Jealousy Incarnate
by Artiki-chan
Summary: ((rewrite of Love vs Jealousy; no relation to the korean drama of the same name)) The new student, Hinamori Amu is misunderstood but befriends the friendly class president, Hotori Tadase, who is able to see right through her front. However, by being around Tadase, trouble stirs between Amu and Tadase's ex-girlfriend. !TADAMU! Rated T for violence and swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**I**

All eyes were on her as she walked into the school. With her bubble gum pink hair thrown in a messy ponytail, her exaggerated make up, and perfectly different uniform, she looked like a dress code violation waiting to happen. But her resting-bitch-face expression said she didn't care. She pulled her ponytail tighter to her head, listening in to all of the rumours that were already starting, glaring at anyone who tried to get in her way.

"Who's that?" someone asked their friend in a hushed tone. "She looks like she's ready to fight someone."

"I hear her name is Hinamori Amu." the friend responded in an equally hushed whisper, which was still loud enough for said Hinamori Amu to hear. "I hear she was kicked out of her old school for doing just that. Sent a girl to the hospital, too."

"That's scary…" the first person said. "Wait, she's looking this way, pretend you said nothing."

Amu snarled. "What? You've never seen a new kid before? Scram before I make that rumor true."

The two friends looked at each other warily before turning and walking away, whispering about how scary that was, and over-exaggerating how traumatized they were going to be after that confrontation. Amu rolled her eyes, muttering about how stupid rumours were lately. Like, how did people come up with them? Haven't they heard not to judge a book by its cover?

Amu sighed and found the classroom she was assigned to and peeked around. No one was here yet, good. She stepped inside, examining the room and finding the locker she was assigned to, knowing she'd have to introduce herself once class officially started.

Just as she turned to leave again, she noticed someone else walking in and froze. He was fairly tall, even for Amu, who was tall for a girl herself. He had striking blond hair, and deep crimson eyes. His blond hair was neatly combed and framed his face very well. And his uniform was much more prim and preppy than Amu's chain and cross covered, unkempt uniform. His entire embodiment looked like the complete opposite of her appearance.

 _But he's so cute…_ she couldn't help but think, before mentally slapping herself. _No, Amu. Don't even think about falling for him. There's no way someone as preppy as him would even_ look _at you._

The blond teenager stared at her for a bit, probably judging her like all the other people. He tilted his head before reading her nametag and breaking into a dazzling smile, which nearly caused Amu to faint, but she tried to maintain her intimidating front, crossing her arms in front of her chest and putting on her best glare. However, that didn't seem to faze him, as his smile didn't falter at all. Amu was about to give another one of her aggressive comments she did when she had no idea what to say, but the dazzling blond beat her to speaking.

"Good morning!" he said in a chipper voice. "You're the new student, aren't you? Nice to meet you. I'm the principal's son, also this classes class president, Hotori Tadase. Welcome to _Koken_ High."

Amu blinked, once again at a loss for words, so letting her aggressive side show as she spoke up. "And? If you're done, I'm leaving."

Tadase kept his sweet smile, unfaltering. Amu wondered how long he practiced to force a smile that well. "Class is starting soon, so just stay. I'll help you introduce yourself and feel like you fit in."

Amu allowed herself to lower her guard for a second. Was this guy _actually_ helping her? Or maybe it was just his job as class president to make all new students feel comfortable. Seeing as nothing about her looked approachable. She put on her bitch face again.

"Fine, whatever. I'll do what you say for now," she said. "But don't think that this makes us friends."

Tadase let out a small laugh and nodded. "Alright. Come with me for a second so I can check on a few things on your paperwork."

Tadase had, in fact, noticed Amu's change in expression. He chose not to say anything though, and just led the pink haired teen out of the classroom and towards the staff room. Amu felt a little awkward being in a staff room, it always felt like she was in trouble, but she followed Tadase nevertheless, mentally beating herself up, since she actually _did_ want to be friends with this Tadase kid.

Tadase talked to their homeroom teacher, who was just getting ready to go to their class to start the day. Amu stayed quiet, half worried she'd get told to fix her uniform or something, even though she liked how she looked. However, her homeroom teacher looked much more unkempt then she did.

His hair was a reddish-brown crows nest, which stuck up at odd ends and was much messier than Amu's hair. His beige shirt was wrinkled and seemed a bit too large for him, and his blue button-down shirt was half tucked into his pants, much like how Amu's shirt was half tucked into her skirt. His brown eyes hid behind both his bangs and his thin-rimmed glasses.

"Ahh, you're the new student?" he said in a very annoying, nasally voice that didn't sound very natural. "I was just heading to the classroom, so just follow me. Hotori-kun you can go back now, thanks."

Tadase looked at Amu once more before nodding, bowing, and exiting the staff room, leaving Amu alone with this strange teacher with the annoying voice. The teacher looked at her with a cheesy, somehow mysterious grin and turned her around, leading her out of the staff room, talking as he practically pushed her to the classroom.

"So, your name is Himamori Amu-san?" he asked.

Amu tried to stop to yell at the teacher for getting her name wrong. "It's _Hina_ mori," she grumbled as the teacher continued to push her forward.

"Oh, by the way, _Hima_ mori-san. I forgot to introduce myself." the teacher stopped in front of the classroom. "Call me Nikaidou-sensei~ Now, wait out here until I call you."

Amu blinked, staring at Nikaidou's back as he walked into the classroom, wincing when she heard a loud thud, peeking through a window to see he'd fallen on the ground. She rolled her eyes, listening to everyone laugh. She heard Tadase call everyone to bow, then Nikaidou proceeded to talk about the new transfer student, AKA, Amu.

"Transfer student, you can come in," Nikaidou called out, causing Amu to stiffen slightly.

Panicking, she hesitantly opened the door, perhaps a little too forcefully, as the sliding door made a loud slam as it hit the end of its slider. Some of the students jumped in surprise, and seemingly cowered in fear. Amu sighed as she made her way to the front of the room after carefully closing the door again.

"Class," Nikaidou said loudly as whispers came from the students. "This is…uh…"

Amu rolled her eyes. There was no way he'd forgotten her name _that_ quickly. He was totally just trying to be funny. "The name's Hinamori Amu."

"Ahh, right. Sorry," He didn't sound very sorry. "Everyone welcome Himamori Amu."

He still got her name right. Who did he think he was? Amu stomped her foot in annoying. "I _said_ its _Hinamori_."

"Yes, that's what I said. _Himamori_."

Some of the students snickered. Amu crossed her arms with a light snarl. "Whatever. Where do I sit?"

The students looked at a few of the classes empty seats warily, probably thinking they didn't want Amu to sit there. Nikaidou just shrugged and surveyed the class before pointing to the spot next to Tadase, which was, naturally, by the window. She stared at the seat for a while before eventually going to sit down.

 _How cliche…_ she thought, putting her bag down and gazing out the window.

Nikaidou started the class after doing a brief attendance, where he got everyone's name _but_ Amu's right. On purpose. Again. Amu was already getting tired of hearing it. She drummed her hands on the table, but tried her best to listen to the teacher, despite his voice already giving her a headache.

Somehow, Amu survived through morning classes without ripping her hair out. Luckily, she didn't have to deal with him in her classes after lunch. When she was getting her lunch from her locker, she heard people whispering about something and looked over to see Tadase, that same sweet smile on his face, lunch already in hand.

She cleared her throat, slamming her locker shut, causing a few students to retreat, but Tadase stayed put. "What do you want?"

"I told you I'd help you the first bit you're here." Tadase replied calmly. "So I wanted to ask if you wanted to have lunch with me? You'll just be eating alone anyways. And you might get to meet my friends, too."

 _Friends_. That was a touchy subject for Amu. Especially after leaving all her old friends. She worked hard to open up to them in the first place, but then her father's job came up and they had to move. Lord knew if anyone here would warm up to Amu as much as her old friends had. Or even, visa verse. So she hesitated answering Tadase.

Plus, if they _didn't_ end up meeting Tadase's friends…she'd be alone. With a cute boy. Don't get her wrong, she had a couple male friends at her own school. But she'd never thought about them as being…boyfriend material? Not that she seen Tadase as that either…yet. But he was cute. And made her confused.

Finally, she let out a sigh. "Alright. Only because you're the only one who will talk to me, and I don't want to eat alone."

Tadase's smile increased into a grin. "Great! I know a great place. Follow me!"

Amu couldn't help but let her guard down and laugh softly at Tadase's enthusiasm, be it fake or not. This intrigued Tadase slightly as he started walking out of the classroom, glancing back occasionally to make sure Amu was actually following him. He flashed her another smile when their gazes met, causing Amu to look down and blush slightly.

"So, what's up with this whole'attitude' thing?" he asked casually, leading Amu out of the school.

Amu almost tripped over her feet at the sudden question. Was it _that_ obvious that she was putting up a front? Or…maybe she heard wrong. She took a breath, managing to say, "What do you mean? It's just who I am."

Tadase let out a chuckle. "There's no way someone like you could do anything the rumours said. Plus, when I was looking at your papers, there was nothing about getting kicked out of your previous school, and practically no blemishes on your reputation."

He stopped walking, causing Amu to almost run into his back before she caught herself and stopped as well, looking around, forgetting about what Tadase had just said, which probably exposed her 'badass' front. The two were standing in a lovely little grassland with trees clustered around a small white gazebo. Amu had no idea such a place like this existed at the school. Then again, she hadn't gotten a proper tour, either.

"Whoa…" she made her way towards the gazebo, her lips turning up slightly into a smile. "It's so nice…perfect for a hot, sunny day."

She spun around in a circle, not noticing Tadase watching her with an amused smile. He followed her up into the shade of the gazebo, sitting down on the bench in the center. Amu realized what she was doing and stopped, stiffening up again as she awkwardly sat at the very edge of the bench, subtly trying not to sit too close to Tadase.

"It's got a nice view, doesn't it?" Tadase asked, seemingly not fazed by how nervous Amu was being, in fact finding it quite amusing. "I always eat out here when all of my other friends are busy during lunch."

Amu nodded, trying to make it seem like she didn't particularly care, but let her brain to the talking for her as she slipped out in a much less rough voice, "It's nice. I can see why you like it. Did you come here alone?" she froze, realizing what she was saying, quickly adding. "N-not that I care."

Tadase hummed, watching Amu with a curious gaze. "Not until recently." he opened up his lunch, wondering if opening up to Amu help her open up herself. "I…had a girlfriend. She goes to school her, her name is Yamabuki Saaya." he glanced over at Amu for a minute, noticing a change in her posture as he continues. "We broke up a bit ago, though, and she hasn't talked to me since."

Amu nodded slowly, leaning on her hand as she nibbled on her _bento_ , which her mother had made her, chewing on her chopsticks, once again speaking without thinking when she blurts out, "Your ex…what was she like?" Again, she stiffens back up. "Again, not that I care. I just…want to know who to look out for so I don't get into any trouble."

Tadase smiled realizing his plan had worked. Even if she was still trying to keep up her 'act'. He took a second to respond to her question, allowing himself to chew and swallow the rice he'd just put in his mouth.

"Well, she wasn't… _bad_. She was pretty nice at first. Maybe a little clingy and obsessive, too."

"Oh." Amu lamented on Tadase's response, curious about one more thing, but trying to think of a way to make it sound like she didn't care _that_ much. "Last question, so I can maybe blackmail her if I see her… How'd you two break up. Though I'd probably break up with someone who was clingy and obsessive, too."

Amu waited for a bit, but realized Tadase wasn't replying. Was she being too nosy? See, this was why she would rather everyone be afraid of her. That way she didn't have to get attached or something. She moved a little closer, frowning slightly as Tadase just continued eating with his head down. She bit her lip, looking away.

"S-sorry," she mumbled to the air. "If I'm not being brash, I'm being too nosy. You don't have to answer that. I-I can just leave."

She moved to close her _bento_ box, shouldering her bag slightly, but still not getting up for some reason. She looked at Tadase, who eventually raised his hand dismissively and raised his head to look at her with his crimson stare.

"It's okay…Hinamori-san," he said slowly. "The reason why I broke up with her is just…very personal. And I'm not very comfortable talking about it, usually…"

Amu stood up quickly, crossing her arms as she looked away from Tadase. "T-that's why I said you didn't have to answer."

Tadase reached his arm to sit Amu back down with a light laugh. "I wasn't finished. You look like someone who can keep a secret well, so…I'll tell you. So…if you'll just listen…I'll be grateful."

Amu, by accident, forcefully pulled her arm away from Tadase, too embarrassed to say sorry, but she leaned closer slightly. "Are you serious? Y-you... _want_ to tell me? Even though I literally just said I was willing to blackmail your ex if I had to?"

"Yes." Tadase said firmly, placing his lunch aside and crossing his hands in his lap. "Though…it's a little…embarrassing." Amu just nodded, telling Tadase to continue. "So…about a year ago…I was at Saaya's house. I was still a little awkward with the whole kissing thing, so we hadn't done much of it yet." he paused to bite his lip. "But I decided to give it a chance and we…you know…until she started trying to unbutton my shirt.

"I stopped her, since I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable, we'd only been going out for maybe 3 months, and I didn't think it was a good idea to go too far, since we were only 15. But she just said ' _Oh come on Tadase, we both know you want it too'_ and kept trying to make an advance…"

Amu froze, realizing where this was going. Why would Tadase trust her with such a serious secret? Stupidly though, she asked, "Wait, you mean she wanted to have sex with you?"

She covered her mouth when she realized what she said. She somehow felt a little heartbroken when Tadase nodded sadly. Who would dare push such a prince-like boy into something he didn't want to do? Somehow she really _did_ want to blackmail this Yamabuki Saaya.

"Uh, Hinamori-san. Do you mind if I leave for a second?" Tadase asked abruptly.

Amu looked over, wondering if he just needed a moment to himself, or maybe just had to use the restroom, but nodded. "I don't care. It's not like you have to ask me everything."

Tadase nodded as well and stood up, jogging back toward the school, leaving Amu alone to eat and take in his story. It was quiet for a few minutes, and she just ate her lunch in that silence. When a shadow fell over her, she expected to see Tadase. Instead, she saw a complete stranger. Despite that, however, she had a feeling she knew _exactly_ who this stranger was.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, hello. I have rewritten Love vs Jealousy and decided to rename it Jealousy Incarnate (for now?) Not to be mistaken for the Korean drama of the same title. Though the idea of the title might've been my inspiration. I plan on making it shorter (we'll see how that works out) so a lot of stuff from the original story will be changed/removed. Expect longer chapters because of that. I also decided to stress Amu's...badgirl(?) attitude a bit more so she doesn't seem as...weak? And changed a few things with Tadase. You'll see later into the story though.**

 **Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this re-write of my old, crappy story which somehow had the most reviews out of all my fanfics? Hopefully this remake will be the same way? Tell me what you think in a review please~ I love reading all your lovely, positive reviews~ For now, how about, since I have the first 9 chapters fully re-written, I'll post chapter 2 if I can get...10 reviews? I'm sure you all can do it!**

 **Also, yes, I did change my name to fit my name on most of my other sites. Sorry if I change my name too much. Hopefully this will be the last time. ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

**II**

A curly red-headed girl was looking down at Amu. Looking wasn't even cutting it. She was outright glaring at Amu, her emerald green eyes trying to bore into Amu's own honey brown eyes when instinctively sent back its own death glare. From what Amu could see, this girl was very much a 'goody-two-shoes.' Perfectly curled hair, caked on makeup, and a neatly done up uniform.

"Hey, bitch, what do you think you're doing sitting in _my_ spot?" the redhead snarled bitterly.

 _Yep, I was right_. Amu set her food aside and crossed her arms. "Am I not allowed to _eat_ _lunch_? Yamabuki Saaya. And why are you even here? Haven't you heard the rumors about me? I could very much kill you."

"So you know who I am." Yamabuki Saaya seemed satisfied. "That means you should know that Tadase is my _boyfriend_."

Amu was becoming livid. She rose to her feet to meet Saaya's gaze. "I don't know who you think you are getting this close to me, but you need to back off. As far as Hotori-kun has told me, you guys broke up. So you have _no_ right to call him your boyfriend, nor do you have any right to harass me just for eating lunch with him _once._ "

Saaya scoffed. "Whatever. It's none of your business."

"Then it's also none of _your_ business as to why I'm eating lunch with your _ex_ -boyfriend." Amu shot back, her hands curling into fists.

"It's not like Tadase would ever like you anyways," Saaya said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Oh? And why is that?" Amu questioned, her outer character's personality really helping her in this situation.

"I mean, look at yourself," Saaya responded. "You're a mess. Your hair is weird, and your get up makes it look like you just came from some creepy occult."

"S-so what?" Amu could feel her outer character slowly breaking. "I'd rather be different than look like some goody-two-shoes who only follows the latest, stupid trends. At least my uniform gives me character!"

"If you mean make you look like a slut, sure." Saaya scowled at Amu.

Amu glanced down at her uniform, slowly breaking a little bit more out of character. It wasn't _that_ bad. It was the same as every other grade 10 girl's uniform; a plaid skirt, black jacket, and matching plaid tie. She had just decided to decorate it with chains, cross pins, and decided she didn't want to tuck in the shirt. Her legs were just covered in ripped stockings and then just the schools Mary Jane shoes. Of course, her hair was thrown up in a high messy pony, attached with a small X clip.

"It's called _punk_ , not slutty," Amu said through gritted teeth, hitting her last nerve. "You don't see me showing any skin unnecessarily, do you? Because _that_ is the true definition of a slut."

"Who cares about logic? All I got out of that is you're a loner. So how about you just stay away from _my_ Tadase?"

At the time, Tadase had started heading back up towards the gazebo, but neither Amu nor Saaya seemed to notice. Tadase froze when he saw them arguing, unsure what to do yet, seeing as Amu seemed to be handling it okay for the moment. He did notice Saaya clench her fist though.

"Who are you to tell me who I can and can't hang out? At least he isn't afraid of me like everyone else!" Amu shouted, close to snapping and pulling on Saaya's too perfectly curled hair.

It was at that moment when Saaya raised her clenched fist, it's target being Amu's face. Amu tried not to look too fazed, but on the inside, she was starting to panic. Was this it for her? Maybe she shouldn't have sad so much… She winced and looked away, ready for Saaya's strike, but heard Saaya gasp in surprise. She snuck a peek at the red-head, instead. seeing the back of a blonde head.

"T-Tadase!" Saaya stammered at the blond teen, who was currently standing in front of Amu, holding Saaya's wrist

"Yamabuki Saaya!" Tadase said in a serious voice, releasing Saaya's wrist. "What do you think you're doing to Hinamori-san?"

Saaya looked around nervously. "S-she started it!" she stammered, pointing an accusative finger at Amu.

Tadase looked back at Amu, who just shook her head before looking away, embarrassed to be having Tadase protect her. She had her arms crossed over her chest and her bottom lip jutted out slightly.

Tadase shook his head pitifully at Saaya. "Really? Picking on the new kid? How low. And you wonder why I broke up with you?"

Saaya's eyes widened at Tadase's words and she furrowed her eyebrows angrily. She huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll step down. _For now_. But your _little friend_ is gonna pay."

"Saaya!" Tadase raised his voice slightly, scaring even Amu. "Leave. _Now._ "

Amu watched in both horror and secretly amusement as Saaya opened her mouth, before closing it when Tadase's hand comes in contact with her face. Amu even winced at the sound alone. Amu really hoped she didn't have to get on Tadase's bad side. If everyone though _Amu_ was scary, clearly they'd never seen a livid Hotori Tadase.

"Like I said before; and you wonder why I broke up with you?" Tadase's voice was full of annoyance. "You were pushy, obsessive, and clingy. I couldn't even hang out with my female _friends_ without having you on my back about it." he took a deep breath. "Now, _please_ , never go near me or Hinamori-san ever again. How many times must I remind you that you _aren't_ my girlfriend anymore? I can talk to whichever girl I want!"

Saaya looked like she'd be punched in the gut. Amu, somehow brought to 'life' from Tadase's harshness, stepped next to Tadase with her hands on her hips. Tadase stared at her for a while, but it was Amu shouting "Scram!" that caused Saaya to run away, probably to cry to whatever people she paid to listen to her problems.

Tadase turned to Amu. "Are you okay? I was a little worried at first because I figured you might crack under the pressure. But you handled yourself pretty well."

Amu smiled faintly. "It's not totally just a cover up. All of my sides are still me." she paused. "I mean… what do you mean? Pft, I was just doing what I usually do when confronted. I'm not a scaredy-cat."

In reality, though, Saaya's words had hit her hard. But she didn't want to cry in front of someone like Tadase. So she held it back. It wouldn't be right to be so strong, and then immediately show weakness. She'd only known this guy for less than 3 hours, after all. Sure, Amu acted tough, and sometimes she actually _was_ tough, but…even she didn't like being judged.

"H-Hinamori-san…?" Tadase questioned confusion and concern in his voice. "Are you crying?"

 _Shit._ Amu thought through her slightly bleary eyes. _I didn't want this to happen…_

She rubbed her eyes quickly, shaking her head. "Strong people don't cry. I-I must've got something in my eye..." She looked away, biting her lip. "S-say…Hotori-kun…"

"You can call me Tadase if you want," he said, cutting Amu off.

"R-right. Tadase-kun…" she trailed off. "What do you think about my hair…? N-not that anything Saaya said got to me."

"Your hair…?" Tadase inquired. "Why? Did Saaya say something?"

Amu turned away slightly. "I mean, she called me a slut…n-no big…deal…" She melted to the ground spontaneously. "I-I'm fine."

Tadase blinked, watching Amu as she crumpled to the ground. "H-Hinamori-san?" He crouched down next to Amu, putting his hand on her shoulder. "She just said that to hurt you. I highly doubt you're a slut." He pulled her into a comforting hug when she turned to look at him. "If she ever tries something like that again, I'll definitely help you."

Amu looked at Tadase in slight astonishment and shock, not sure how to respond to the hug. Too embarrassed to hug back, she just sat there with her face almost buried in Tadase's shoulder. She pulled away slightly after a second or two, recalling what Tadase had said earlier.

"Thanks, Tadase-kun." she managed. "B-by the way. I'll accept we're friends now. So…call me Amu."

Tadase stared at Amu for a little bit, taken aback by the request before breaking into a grin. "Alright, Amu-chan!"

He stood up, offering his hand down to her. "We didn't get to eat much of our lunch, but we'd better get back."

Amu looked up at him and his dazzling smile and thought that maybe it wasn't too bad to let at least one person see her 'real' self every once in a while. She smiled slightly and grabbed his hand, letting him help her up. Much to her surprise and slight happiness, Tadase didn't let go of her hand, even giving it a squeeze before he helped pack up their stuff and go back toward the school.

* * *

 _ **A/N: So I decided to upload the second chapter early. Because I highly doubted I'd get 10, I don't know why I thought I'd get a bunch of reviews so quick. But I did get a LOVELY review from someone and reading their review made me really happy. So whoever 'anon' is, thank you for the review, I hope you'll end up liking this remake as much as the original. And I'll see if I can make Saaya seem**_ ** _less_ _evil, more...troubled? or possessed._**

 ** _Just a small disclaimer that I forgot to mention in the first chapter, yes, I know Tsukasa Amawata(too lazy to google it so I hope that's right) isn't Tadase's father, he's his uncle, but they look similar, so I thought it'd work that he was his father. And this is a completely different universe anyways, so anything can happen. Also, excuse the language, but I did say there would be some foul language, and, of course, violence._**

 ** _Rather than setting a high goal, I'll instead see if miss/Mr anon reviewer will review again, and will post the next chapter a week or so after I get their review. If not, then just expect this chapter in the next week. :') Or whenever I get bored again._**


	3. Chapter 3

**III**

School continued normally, luckily for Amu, she had no classes with Saaya. At the end of the day when Amu was back in her homeroom to grab her stuff, Tadase caught her before she could leave. Despite saying she wanted to open up a bit to him, she still put on her 'rebel' act when he approached. It broke slightly when he asked if he could walk her home. She tried to seem reluctant with her response, which Tadase just laughed off. They walked home in a silence that day.

After walking home together for a week, they slowly got to know each other. Saaya had seemed to have backed off…for the moment. Perhaps she was still trying to get over Tadase yelling at her and hitting her. Amu liked the peace. Though people still whispered about her occasionally, having Tadase around really helped calm her down.

"So, Amu-chan…" Tadase said with a hum as they walked home from school about 10 days after Amu had transferred. "Seeing as I've opened up to some of your questions this past week, I'll ask you a couple too." he paused as he thought of one. "Do you have any siblings?"

Amu blinked in surprise at the sudden question Part of her still couldn't believe she'd been walking home with the 'prince' of the school, as she'd learned him as. "Huh? Oh, yeah." She nodded. "I have a little sister."

"Ahh, you're an older sister." Tadase nodded in understanding. "What's her name?"

"Ami. She's almost ten now, but she acts as if she's still four." she sighed a little over-exaggeratedly.

Tadase laughed slightly. "She sounds cute. I take it you don't like her much, though?"

Amu shook her head quickly. "N-no. I like her. She's just annoying as hell sometimes. I'm the only big sister she has, so I can't really fail her."

"And what about her? Does _she_ like _you_?"

Amu was starting to get awkward talking about only herself, but tried not to show it. She answered the rest of Tadase's questions as briefly as she could just to take the attention off of her. Tadase seemed a bit strange when she mentioned Ami was obsessed with Hoshina Utau, but she didn't try to press.

In truth, Tadase knew Utau. They had a kind of rough past though. He didn't really like thinking about it though. It made Tadase think about… _him_. He shook his head quickly, pushing the thoughts into the back of his mind as he listened quietly, noticing Amu's explanations getting shorter and shorter.

"Say, Amu-chan…" he said slowly. "Do you want to do something? Not now, because we both need to change, but my parents aren't home so I have nothing to do. If your parents aren't home either, you're free to bring Ami-san."

Amu was taken aback by the sudden invitation. Their friendship had been entirely school oriented until that moment. Nevertheless, she found herself nodding without giving it proper thought. She cursed herself for changing so much in a short amount of time, but somehow found she couldn't help it when she was with Tadase. He was too much of a gentleman to be rude to.

Tadase smiled and said to meet him where they were, in front of a park near Amu's house, in about ten minutes. Amu nodded once again and watched Tadase run in the opposite direction, waving a little awkwardly. She sighed slightly, taking in what just happened. Was this technically a date? Nah, no way. They'd only known each other for less than 2 weeks.

Right as Amu was about to turn and jog towards her house, she was abruptly pulled into a headlock by a mysterious force. She tried to use brute force to get away, but somehow, that only ended up putting her in more trouble as she heard a pocket knife open and soon felt the cold metal near her neck.

"Finally he's gone…" a disembodied voice said from behind her. "If you struggle anymore, my hand might slip and today will be your last day of school." they paused, pressing the knife closer to Amu's skin as if to prove their point. "I've been letting it slide until now, thinking he was just being nice… Remember what I told you about staying away from my boyfriend when you first transferred?"

Amu gritted her teeth, terrified in the inside, but trying not to panic too much on the outside. She knew exactly who this was. Saaya had finally come back for revenge, and this time it was a life or death situation. Only, this time, Tadase wasn't here to help. She had to handle this herself.

"Yamabuki Saaya…!" She gulped slightly, feeling the sharp edge of the knife digging into her skin, thankfully not enough to draw blood. "Didn't you-didn't you hear Tadase-kun? He's no longer your-"

Before Amu could finish her sentence, she was thrown on the hard cement, the knife barely hitting her as she rolled over. Her jacket and blouse were torn at the elbow, and a bleeding scrape throbbed underneath, a small blood stain on the ground where she hit it.

"You better shut up. Or next time I won't miss." Saaya threatened, glowering down at Amu.

Amu tried to lean up on her hands, but fell with a wince. Both of her hands were bloody, blistered, and bruised, making it harder for her to move them. Instead she leaned up on the elbow that wasn't scraped.

"Y-you really are low, Yamabuki Saaya." she stammered, wincing in pain still. "Trying to kill me _just_ because I'm hanging around with your _ex_ -boyfriend?"

Saaya pounced on her, slashing her arm in the process. "Shut up! Why should I tell you my motives?"

Amu yelped in pain, grabbing her arm. "T-Tadase-kun probably doesn't even _like_ me in that way! We've only known each other for a w-week!"

"Tch." Saaya scoffed, pressing the knife against Amu's neck again. "You mustn't believe in a little think called 'Love at First Sight.' There's _no_ way Tadase would protect you with no feeling involved. He's _never_ hit me or yelled at me before. And then when your little tough act broke and he hugged you? You must be blind."

Amu blinked, shocked at Saaya's word, but using it as a chance to get a hit in on her, bringing her knee up to Saaya's stomach. "You didn't leave back there." she breathed as Saaya lurched and almost let go of her knife.

"O-of course not." Saaya said in a weak voice, which somehow still screamed 'I'm bragging' "I'm not that dumb. I hid behind a bush. Tadase thought he was being all cool saying he'd protect you from me. But, oh, what's this? He's not here."

Amu growled slightly. "You're just jealous." she pulled her hand away from her arm, both hurting too much for her to handle. "You can't move on from him because you still _love_ him."

Saaya sat up, straddling Amu as she glared down at her. "Of course I still love him! But," she slashed Amu again, but missed, as Amu was lucky enough to escape her straddle and roll away. "I'm not," She slashed again, this time nicking Amu's thigh. "Jealous!"

Amu grunted, but was mentally glad the knife had only nicked her. "If-if you're not jealous, then why bother doing something like this to me?" Blood seeped from her arm, her hands left bloody hand prints on the cement, and she was very much pissed and in pain.

"B-because…" Saaya seemed to take a minute to think of perhaps an excuse. "Because you're a no good, ugly piece of _shit_."

She tried to slash Amu's face, but Amu, with much effort and pain, grabbed her wrist and twisted it backwards. Those self defense classes she was forced to take part in a few years ago were finally put to use. Saaya growled and leaped up, retreating as she held her wrist, shouting out horrible curses and names, definitely directed towards Amu.

Amu groaned and tried to sit up, but because of her cut up hands from the cement, she fell back, landing on her cut arm, causing her to immediately yelp in pain. Not soon after, she blacked out, perhaps from stress, or from looking over and seeing a pool of her own blood next to her, and all over her. The last thing she remembered was being in a lot of pain, and wishing she'd just offered that she and Tadase went around in their uniforms.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been lying on the ground for, but when she came back to semi-consciousness, she heard a voice urgently calling out her name. At first she thought it might have been an angel. Or maybe a neighbour who happened to be passing by. But then the voice became clearer, and she felt herself being shaken.

"Amu-chan! Amu-chan, please stay with me. You're going to be alright!" the voice sounded familiar, but in her current state of mind, she couldn't be too sure who it was. "Amu-chan! God, am I going to have to use mouth-to-mouth? Wait… mouth-to-mouth is for drowning victims, what am I thinking?"

Amu's eyes just about shot open at the idea of someone giving her mouth-to-mouth, especially if it was a stranger. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) it was someone she probably should've thought of in the first place. She blinked in surprise.

"T-Tadase-kun…?!"

Tadase sighed in relief. "Thank god. I was worried for a second there."

Tadase went to hug Amu, but Amu yelped, her body already aching from being pushed onto the hard concrete, plus being attacked. Tadase quickly let go of Amu when she yelped, looking at her concernedly as he panicked.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." he said quickly. "I-I should've thought before I acted."

"I-it's fine.." Amu glanced at her hands, which were still all bloody. She gagged mentally.

"Amu-chan…can you tell me what happened?" Tadase asked, trying to stay calm. "Y-you're bleeding all over… Who did this to you?"

If Tadase hadn't have said 'who did this to you', Amu probably would've brushed it off as she fell and scraped her arm on a twig. She sighed, unable to come up with a better excuse and explained what happened after Tadase had left in vivid detail. Tadase stared in shock as Amu spoke.

"S-Saaya…Saaya did this to you?" he repeated.

Amu nodded slowly, for some reason the thought 'love at first sight' coming to mind. She quickly pushed the thought away. Now wasn't the time to think about that. She chewed on the inside of her cheek though, wondering if maybe it was true. Tadase sighed and stood up, holding Amu's arm to try and help her up. Blood was dripping from her thigh, which probably could've looked like something else. Luckily Tadase didn't notice.

"Can you walk?" he asked, still holding on to her arm. "We should probably get those cuts taken care of…"

Amu tried to take a step forward, but her legs felt like jelly. Still, she managed to take a couple steps. "I-I should be fine for a bit."

"I'll help you a bit." Tadase said, already grabbing Amu's arm to wrap around his shoulder and slipping his other arm behind her torso. "If you feel too weak after that, I'll carry you."

Amu chose not to comment on that and focused on her steps (and tried _not_ to focus on Tadase's hand around her waist) making sure not to fall or trip. Tadase kept close eye on her, ready to catch her if she lurched forwards. Around half way to the hospital, she stumbled forward. Tadase gently let go of her and lowered her to the ground.

"I-I cant walk…any further…" she panted. "I might pass out…"

Tadase sighed and crouched next to her. He examined Amu for a second, as if calculating her weight in his brain. Then, he slipped one arm behind Amu's neck and the other under her knees and lifted her up 'bridal style'. This earned a surprise yelp from Amu as she started flailing in an embarrassed panic.

Tadase calmed her down and eventually she relaxed, holding her hands close to her chest and looking down. He adjusted his grip on her, his hand accidentally brushing against the nick on her thigh, causing her to almost jump out of his arms as she yelped.

"S-sorry. I didn't see that one…" Tadase said quickly. "Let's get you to the hospital quick."

Amu nodded and Tadase started walking, making sure to be careful not to drop or hurt Amu anymore than she already was. After some time, Amu's breathing slowed down and she started mumbling incoherently. Tadase looked down at her and noticed she had fallen asleep against his chest. He chuckled softly.

"Mm…why…are you…so nice…" Amu mumbled, but her actions suddenly changed. She started thrashing slightly. "W-wait no! Don't…don't touch me! Stop! H-help!"

She shot awake, panicking for a second before realizing where she was and sighing softly, settling back down, chewing on her bottom lip, staying silent for a while, still a little shaken. Tadase's eyes followed her spasmodic actions worriedly.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "It sounded like you were having an awful nightmare."

Amu nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah. Kind of. Don't worry though. I-I'm fine."

Tadase hummed softly, opening his mouth, almost asking what the dream was. He closed his mouth quickly, deciding it wasn't right for him to ask. He sighed softly, making sure Amu wouldn't fall by adjusting his grip again, carefully this time.

"You can go back to sleep if you'd like…" he said instead.

Amu nodded, humming softly in response, placing her head back against Tadase's chest. She was fast asleep as quickly as her head fell. Tadase laughed softly before changing it into a sigh. He couldn't help but feel bad for her. She was only a little over a week into her time here and she was already attacked.

"How could Saaya do that to someone so easily…?" he wondered out loud. "She's totally different from how I remember her… Am I not allowed to greet a new student?"

He sighed again. Amu's arms went from resting against her chest to being wrapped around his neck a little tightly. Luckily not tight enough to choke him yet. He pursed his lips. Saaya was never in her right mind, Tadase knew that for sure. But attacking a new student, even when Tadase was just doing his job as a good class president, was just too much. How could he talk to her about this? Tadase had thought Saaya had given up, since she had been silent for well over a week, but he guessed he was wrong. Tadase let out a final sigh before continuing his trek to the hospital in silence, only listening to Amu's soft breathing.

Finally, Tadase had managed to make it to the hospital without dropping or waking Amu. That being said, she was still fast asleep when they arrived, and he didn't want to wake her up too soon. He decided it would be easier to just carry her in.

"Uhm…" he called awkwardly. "Nurse? Doctor? Anyone? M-my friend…she was assaulted by someone with a knife and needs some help."

Two nurses heeded Tadase's call, rushing towards Tadase and Amu after quickly grabbing a gurney. Tadase carefully placed Amu onto the gurney as the nurses looked Amu over quickly. He waited to see what they would have to say.

"Goodness, poor girl!" one of them said. "Good thing she isn't hurt too badly. Where did you find her, sir? How long was she lying there?"

Tadase shook his head. "I was with her 10 minutes earlier. But when I came back, I found her lying on the ground surrounded by a pool of her own blood…"

"Oh dear! Is she currently unconscious?"

Tadase shook his head. "She was conscious for a bit, talking and able to explain what happened. But on my way here, she fell asleep." under his breath, Tadase muttered, "At least I hope…"

Luckily, neither of the nurses heard the last part and just nodded. "Well, if she's only asleep, waking her would make it easier for us to see how much attention she needs. And she'll be able to tell us what happened."

Tadase nodded as well, touching Amu's shoulder, nudging it gently. "Amu-chan, hey. Amu-chan, wake up."

Amu rolled over slightly, groaning as her eyes fluttered open. She looked around trying to take in the situation. "Hmm…? What?" she managed groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"We're at the hospital." Tadase explained shortly. "These nurses wanted to check on you properly."

Amu shot up like a bullet out of a gun when she realized the situation "OH!"

However, by doing so, she got dizzy and almost fell back down, causing her to slam her hands on the bed. This, in turn, caused her to yelp in pain, the wounds on her hands still ripe and stinging. To make matters worse, her vision was blurred with black spots and throbbed from getting up too fast. Both nurses, as well as Tadase, watched Amu concernedly, but relaxed when Amu raised a bloody hand to say she was fine.

"Don't be too alarmed. But we're going to take you into the emergency room." one of the nurses said after making sure Amu was fine, though examined her hands once more. "We don't know how deep any of your wounds are, so it'd be best to get everything checked on quickly and get you ready to go hopefully in a couple hours."

One of the nurses went off to talk to a doctor, while the other stayed with Tadase and Amu, trying to get as much information about the accident as possible. As the second nurse came back with a doctor, the first nurse recounted how many stitches she'd need and any other important procedures she'd need to take.

* * *

 **A/N: EDIT: So I updated this to make a bit more sense. Previously, everything was in one day, so i figured it would make more sense to add more of a time to it so it wasnt happening so quickly.**

 **Here's another chapter. I'll be posting these randomly so dont expect any kind of schedule until I either feel like I need to be more organized or get more of a following.**


	4. Chapter 4

IV

Amu lowered herself back into a lying position and let the nurse hook up an IV dropper. They then quickly pushed Amu towards a different room, presumably an emergency room. Tadase followed them about half way, giving Amu reassuring smiles before he having to stop at the door and wait outside.

Amu had never been into an ER, and didn't really think she qualified to be in one. It wasn't like she was dying, nor was she unconscious. She hadn't even been cut or stabbed anywhere life threatening. But maybe it was a precaution. Amu wouldn't know anyway; it wasn't like she was a doctor. Maybe something really bad can happen with the few injuries she had. She really couldn't be the judge of her own safety.

She lay silent, following the nurse's instructions as she got over the general check up portion. Soon, a doctor was at the nurse's side and the nurse reported Amu's vitals, all of which Amu did not understand besides simple words like 'heart rate' 'blood pressure', etc. The numbers meant nothing to Amu but apparently were good, since the doctor didn't seem too displeased with what he heard. Soon, she was instructed to sit up and take off her uniform jacket so he could check out the cut on her arm better.

Rather than having her take off her blouse or roll up the sleeve, the doctor cuts it off. Perhaps it was just to make procedures quicker in the case of dire emergency. And considering Amu was probably still bleeding, it probably counted. Amu sighed at the thought of explaining to her parents what happened to her uniform.

For some reason, she was also wondering how Tadase was doing. Was he worried? And back to her parents, how were they going to explain everything at all? Her brain was so conflicted. The doctor was saying a few things, but Amu was too lost in her thoughts to notice what exactly what he was talking about.

Meanwhile, just outside, Tadase was pacing nervously. He knew Amu was fine. A few cuts weren't enough to be worried about. Plus, he trusted the doctor to stitch her up well. There was no need to be worried about Amu anymore, as long as she wasn't unconscious.

Instead, he was worried about how this happened, and how he'd explain this situation. Obviously, he could tell his father and he'd be able to try to get something done. But there was also the drowning thought that it was _his_ fault Amu got hurt. All he wanted to do was get to know Amu more through shopping.

"Stupid…" he mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "What was I thinking? I've never decided to change when hanging out with my friends after school…"

He sighed and mumbled a few more self-accusatory statements, eventually getting dizzy from pacing. He sighed once more and sat down on one of the chairs, playing with his fingers absentmindedly. He was starting to get impatient for some reason.

Thirty minutes later, Amu walked out of the ER with the aid of one of the nurses. The doctor took up the end with a clipboard in hand. Tadase shot up from his chair to help Amu, as well as greet the doctor.

"Are you okay, Amu-chan?" Tadase asked immediately upon reaching Amu's side.

Amu nodded shyly. She was a little embarrassed that she was crying when she had to get stitches though. Tadase sighed in relief, though he knew she would be fine anyway. The doctor turned to him, clicking the back of his pen.

"Are you her guardian?" he asked. "We need a few things to be signed and all that."

Tadase hesitated. He clearly wasn't his guardian, so he had no idea how to respond that would keep Amu's parents from knowing what happened. He finally opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, someone else from behind him spoke. A large pair of hands placed themselves on Tadase's shoulder, causing him to crane his neck to see who would touch him so familiarly.

"I'm their guardian for today if you don't mind." the person said. "I'll take care of everything for now."

" _Otou-san_...?" he questioned incredulously, blinking up at the man standing behind him.

The tall, ash blond haired man with kind violet eyes looked down at Tadase with a friendly smile. Amu stared at the man in confusion, nearly falling back when she heard Tadase call him his father. This beautiful man who looked to be in his mid-30s was Tadase's _dad_? Which also meant…

" _K-kouchou-san!_ " Amu stammered, bowing more than 90 degrees. "N-nice to meet you."

Tadase's father laughed softly. "We haven't formally met, have we? I'm Tadase's father, and the schools principal, Amakawa Tsukasa. Don't mind the different last name. A pleasure to meet you, Hinamori Amu-san."

"Otou-san, why are you here?" Tadase asked.

Tsukasa patted his son's shoulder, lowering his voice slightly. "Call it intuition. I already called Amu-san's parents with an excuse. I figured it would be bad to let this get out so early on. I hope you don't mind, Amu-san."

Tsukasa smiled at Amu, and Amu found it hard to say no. She couldn't help but notice how much Tadaselooked like his father. Even down to the hairstyle. She managed a nod. Tsukasa nodded in return, looking at the doctor.

"She's my student, so I'll account for her today," Tsukasa told him. "She was with my son when it happened, and I have a suspicion another one of my students was involved…" the last part had fallen into a mumble.

"Pardon?"

"Don't worry about it. As I said I'll handle the papers and everything." Tsukasa responded, and the doctor leads him into a room so they could talk privately.

Tadase's father was very mysterious. Tadase seemed like even he was surprised to see his father, so clearly, he didn't call him to help. So how exactly had he known? Amu hummed in thought as Tadase helped her to a seat. Her leg had a small bandage over it, both of her hands were wrapped in gauze, and Tadase assumed the cut on her arm was also wrapped in gauze, but couldn't tell through her blazer.

The two sat in silence for a bit, Amu swinging her legs absentmindedly. She was thinking about whether she should call her parents or not, and also about how to explain what happened if she were asked. She doubted 'I tripped and fell into a bush' would work. She also considered it being better left alone and if they found out then she'd explain. Maybe after it was all taken care of.

Tadase noticed Amu eyeing her dirty and destroyed uniform and put his hand on her shoulder, talking only when she looked over at him. "Otou-san can get a new uniform for you if you're worried."

Amu blinked, staring at Tadase for a bit, taken aback by the sudden question. "But if I return home like this it'll be a cause for worry…"

"You could tell your parents a friend is giving you a tour around the town," Tadase suggested. "And then otou-san can either have your uniform tailored or can find a way to get a new one."

Amu nodded slowly. Tsukasa came out of the room and shook the doctors hand before returning to us. Tadase immediately stood up out of formality, but Tsukasa sat him back down by pushing his shoulder down until he was back on the chair.

"There's no rush," Tsukasa said. "The doctor had something else come up. So I wanted to brief Amu-san on what she needs to do, in case she missed it." he turned to Amu, who fiddled with her hands awkwardly. "The doctor said you're fine, but if you feel any pain, take some painkillers. And your stitches come out in two weeks, so you have to be careful not to do too move too much so you don't burst the stitches."

Amu nodded slowly. "O-okay…"

"Anyways, why don't you call your parents. I can talk to them and explain the class president is going to show you around a bit." Tsukasa smiled. "If you don't want them to hear any…hospital sounds we can wait in my car. I'll get you a new uniform, but in the meantime, I might have to have you borrow something from _her_ old closet."

Tadase stiffened when his father mentioned the term 'her', and Amu looked from Tadase's father, then back to Tadase, slightly confused. No one offered an answer. Tsukasa helped Amu up and Tadase rose to his feet as well. Soon they were out in Tsukasa's car with Amu dialling up her parents' phone number on her cell phone.

Tsukasa took the phone from Amu and started a chipper conversation naturally. Amu chewed on her lip, trying to listen to the conversation, but getting lost, since he kept going off topic. He was definitely good at making situations comfortable for people. She sighed and looked at Tadase, who was staring out the window, playing with his fingers to keep himself occupied.

"Tadase-kun…" she managed, at first not knowing why she said his name, but quickly coming up with something before Tadase looked over expectantly. "I-I want to thank you…"

Tadase looked over at Amu, smiling slightly. "I only did what I should have done." His smile faulted. "But…I can't help but think I could have done more if I hadn't have left. Maybe…maybe she wouldn't have tried something…"

He rubbed his arm awkwardly, looking away. Amu chewed her lip a little more. Tadase was feeling guilty? She sighed quietly, absentmindedly playing with the gauze on her hands. She wasn't sure if she should comfort Tadase or not. Since she already knew Saaya only attacked her because Tadase left, so he _was_ technically right. She couldn't just _tell_ him that, though. After a bit of thought, she decided to stay quiet.

A little while later, Tsukasa handed Amu back her phone with what looked to be a triumphant grin. Amu took it as good news and bowed her head in gratitude, putting her phone in her bag.

"Your folks are nice," Tsukasa remarked, starting up the car. "Your mother was glad you were making friends. Your father…well, I'm not too sure he was pleased about Tadase's gender…"

Amu flushed slightly, hiding her face in her hands. "Ugh, Papa… He's such a pain sometimes…"

"...So, I kind of said Tadase was a girl." Tsukasa added, laughing slightly as he noticed Tadase's ears turn bright red through the rear view mirror

"O-otou-san!" he shouted exasperatedly. He refused to look at Amu the rest of the ride.

Tsukasa continued laughing as he drove to their house, leading Amu around too quickly for her to get a good look around. Soon they were in a room and Tsukasa was tossing out several articles of female clothing from a bin in a closet. Did Tadase have siblings? He only mentioned a step-brother, which he seemed to have a bad relationship with. She picked up a black dress, looking at it, before tossing it aside.

"Here, you go through it. I'll give you some privacy. I've got to get a uniform for you pronto anyways." Tsukasa moved aside, and disappeared out of the room, leaving Amu alone with a box full of clothing.

She eventually managed to choose her outfit, of course, the colour scheme being black and white. A black ruffly blouse with a seemingly matching choker, and a pair of white Capri pants with a black lace at the bottom. Whoever this belonged to definitely fit her style.

Then, almost as quickly, she was pushed out of the house with Tadase. She blinked in surprise, wondering what just happened. Even Tadase seemed a bit perplexed at first, but just shrugged a little and patted Amu's shoulder.

"Well, let's walk around the town then. Otou-san will call when he gets his hand on a uniform."

Soon, Tadase and Amu were in the town. She got a couple of looks, probably from the gauze on her arm and hands, but she ignored them, as she had gotten used to people staring. It helped when your outer character was confident and nonchalant. Even though every time she caught someone staring, she mentally wanted to disappear into thin air or be sucked into the ground by a black hole.

Amu eyed a small boutique with a more girly selection of accessories, a little longingly, but looked away when she noticed Tadase watching her curiously. He instinctively took her wrist and, without warning, dragged her towards the shop. Amu stared at the back of the blond's head in bewilderment. He looked back with a dazzling smile that Amu nearly had a nosebleed from.

"You were looking at it, right?" he said, stopping in front of the shop. "I wont tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Amu bit her lip, looking at some of the stuff forlornly, but let Tadase pull her inside to look around. How had she managed to let Tadase see her girly side so quickly? Amu wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Despite not wanting to seem needy, she immediately gravitated towards some card suit themed jewellery and clips.

Tadase watched her with a small smile. She was acting lot less awkward now, which was good. He couldn't help but think of how cute she was when she wasn't trying to act like she was tough. He shook his head quickly, telling himself to snap out of it. He really hoped he wasn't staring.

"Tadase-kun?" Amu's voice brought him from his thoughts. "Is there something on my face? Or did a stitch already break?"

Tadase shook his head quickly, the tips of his ears heating up. Yep, he was staring. "No, no! I was looking at something…behind you."

He hurriedly went to point out a row of flower crowns that were conveniently behind Amu. Amu broke into a grin and grabbed a couple. Sure they were cute for her, and Ami would love them, but for some reason, she imagined these would look adorable on Tadase as well. Before she could even try to do anything though, Tadase placed one on Amu's head, laughing slightly.

"Huh?" Amu blinked, trying to look up to see what one he'd put on her. Her hands reached up to touch it.

"They're red roses," Tadase said with a gleeful grin. "They compliment your hair very well."

Amu took it off, examining it, before turning to find a mirror and looking at herself, putting it back on. "Waah, it really does look nice!"

Tadase laughed quietly, but hummed and got distracted by something else turning away. Amu used that as the perfect opportunity to place one of the flower crowns she was holding on his head with a soft giggle. Tadase turned to look at her confusedly. She couldn't help but smile when she got a good look at him.

"You look like such a flower boy." she clapped happily, holding up a mirror for him to see.

He frowned slightly, his hand reaching up to touch the colourful flower crown, unsure whether to get mad or laugh. Amu's expression made it an easy choice though. He chuckled softly, taking the crown off.

"Maybe I should buy it?" he joked, as he was already putting it back.

Amu giggled slightly, returning the other flower crowns in her hand to their spot as well before making her way out of the store. Tadase smiled and followed her out, jogging slightly to walk next to her. They continued walking around the town for another hour or so, fooling around and having fun, before Tadase got a call from his father, telling him that the uniform was ready.

* * *

 **A/N: So an anonymous reviewer asked what happened to Love vs. Jealousy. I explained this in the first chapter I think? It's also in my bio I believe. But I decided to delete and re-write some of my older fanfics. So the original version of this has been deleted. If anyone still wants the original I have the files still, though I'm not too sure how I could share them. I chose to re-write Love vs Jealousy again because people really liked that one (seriously it had like 300 reviews).**

 **Anyways, here's another chapter. If you havent noticed, I do put multiple chapters together sometimes when re-writing this. I figured that would make it end up shorter. (in which its working, as the chapter I'm currently on in my original is 20 I think, and the chapter I'm on in my rewrite is 15) I also removed a few unnecessary chapters. Or- chapters I felt were unnecessary. I hope you guys like this chapter~ 3 I'll see you in my next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

V

There was a long silence as Amu and Tadase walked back to Tadase's house. Neither of them knew what to say. Amu rubbed her arm subconsciously, the edges of the fabric of the gauze lifting slightly as she brushes her fingers against it. She practically glared at the gauze, including the gauze on her hands.

Tadase noticed this and gave a small, amused smile as he finally spoke up. "You may be mad at that gauze but I'm really glad you're okay, Amu-chan."

Amu gazed at him curiously. "Why is that? I mean- I'm glad I'm fine too, but why are _you_ glad?"

Tadase hummed in thought. "Well…I've only known you for about two weeks. But you seem like a fun person, and I've wanted to get to know you better. Plus, you're too young to die. I'm sure you have quite the future ahead of you, and it would be a shame if that were wasted."

Amu's face lit up slightly in a blush, but she managed a smile. "T-Thanks, Tadase-kun…"

"Thanks? For what?" Tadase questioned, tilting his head in confusion.

Amu hummed and shrugged a little nonchalantly. "You've done so much for me in such a small amount of time. You were the only person who approached me without being terrified of me. You made me feel welcome even if my attitude was a little bit rough." she smiled softly. "So…that's why I'm saying thanks."

Tadase returned the smile. "I just did what was natural for me as class president. Plus, what Saaya did was out of hand. It's only fair."

Amu nodded slowly, unsure how to respond to him. Did that mean Tadase was only being nice…? She'd be lying if she said she was a little disappointed. She chewed her bottom lip and stayed quiet the rest of the way, pondering at Tadase's words.

Before they knew it, they were back at Tadase's place, where Tsukasa was waiting with a fresh new uniform for Amu to change into. Amu didn't have time to attach all the chains and such back onto her uniform, so she just told Tsukasa to throw it away accessories and all. She could always get some later anyway. Or just ditch the entire look and attitude...

Soon, she was back in the school uniform and had neatly put her borrowed outfit back into the box it came from. She was still curious about who these belonged to but didn't bother to ask. It wasn't right for her to be nosey after only just visiting his house. She closed the closet door and started to leave.

"Wait, Amu-chan!" Tadase called as Amu was leaving the house to return back to her own. Amu turned to look at him. "L-let me walk you home. In case Saaya decides to try something again." he paused, licking his lips nervously. "Also…if you don't mind, can I walk you to school too? We can set up a meeting spot if you'd like. I'm just…worried."

Amu managed a nod, grateful that Tadase was trying to help her still. "O-okay. Thanks again."

Tadase nodded as well. "It's no problem, really. Should we go? You lead the way."

Amu made sure not to nod again; she'd been nodding too much. It felt like if she nodded anymore, her head would fall off. Instead, she just started walking, making sure she kept a vigilant eye on her surroundings. She also made a few sidelong glances at Tadase every so often.

They were both silent as they walked, only talking when Tadase pointed out a good spot for them to meet at in the mornings. Tadase quickly explained that if he couldn't make it, he'd be glad to send a friend instead. Amu didn't mind much. As long as she could at least get to know his friends before he started sending them over. Otherwise, she'd probably die of awkwardness.

Finally, they arrived back at Amu's house. It was close to dinner time, so Amu wanted to get in as soon as possible so her parents didn't have to worry for very much longer. She gave Tadase a small smile, waving as she hopped up the steps to her house.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Tadase called, returning the smile and wave sweetly. "Be careful, okay? Don't forget our meeting spot."

Amu nodded, opening the front door to her house. She awkwardly sent a final wave to Tadase before slipping inside and closing it behind her. As the door closed, she fell against the door slightly. She had used up too much social energy throughout the day and suddenly felt very exhausted. It always took her a while to get used to being social with new people, especially after getting used to her old friends.

She took off her shoes and quietly called out that she was home. She secretly hoped her parents didn't appear in front of her until _after_ she had changed. Preferably into something over-sized that would cover her arm _and_ hands. Luckily, it was still cool enough to wear long sleeved shirts and sweaters, so she could get away with it.

Once she was back in her normal clothing, she made her way down stairs right as her mother called out for dinner. She vaguely answered any question asked, even from Ami, who seemed very curious for some reason. Her parents didn't seem too worried, thankfully. Except for her father's usual speech about boys. The rest of the night went smoothly. No one noticed her injuries, thankfully, and for a bit, Amu forgot she was even hurt at all.

The next day, Amu shyly made her way towards the meeting place she and Tadase had decided on. It felt a little weird honestly. At the same time, though, it also felt a tad bit nostalgic, as she used to walk to school with her old best friend at her old school. She chewed her lip as she thought about it, before remembering she shouldn't get too distracted.

Until she reached the spot and could physically see Tadase, Amu tried to stay on her toes, practically jumping at every sound and glancing behind her every two seconds. Thankfully, Tadase was already there, looking as good as always in his uniform. He grinned when he spotted her, waving both of his arms as if she hadn't already noticed him.

"Good morning!" he said in his usual bubbly voice as she approached.

"Oh, uh…right." Amu mumbled, back in her stubborn, 'intimidating' mode. "Morning."

She tried to seem nonchalant and a brutish like the past days, though she felt like her lack of accessories made her less intimidating and more normal. She made a mental note to go look for more accessories to decorate her uniform with. Tadase and Amu walked in silence for a while, Amu too lost in her thoughts to come up with something to say. Tadase was the first to speak up.

"I don't think I told you but, along with being the class president, I'm also on the student council."

"Really? Well aren't you a goody-two-shoes?" Amu hoped that sounded like a joke, despite her saying it in her smooth voice.

Thankfully, Tadase laughed. "Well, I have been called that. So, I guess it's true." he stayed silent for a couple steps. "There's an opening after Saaya left. It seems she was only part of the council because of me, so the moment we broke up, she left."

Amu nodded slowly before narrowing her eyes slightly. "Wait…why are you telling me this? This isn't just small talk anymore."

"Well…" Tadase said slowly, and Amu automatically knew he wanted something. "I was kind of hoping you could fill the spot?"

"No," Amu responded immediately. Though she didn't know why. Perhaps it was just that it seemed boring.

Tadase stared at Amu incredulously. "That was a faster answer than I expected. May I ask why you refuse? All of the members of the student council have been my friends for years. You'll be able to make more friends."

Amu shrugged. "It doesn't really fit with my attitude. Plus it sounds boring. It's just paperwork, isn't it?"

"Can you think about it? Please?" Tadase asked, and when Amu looked over, he had what seemed to be a puppy-dog like pleading expression on his face. "I won't bother you about it until after school. If you decide you want to check it out…well, I'll ask you last period again."

Amu hesitated but eventually nodded. "Alright. Fine. I'll think about it. Not because of your puppy-dog eyes. Just…because you asked nicely."

Tadase grinned. "Great! Then I hope to see you after school. Not that we won't see each other during class."

Amu blinked slightly, but managed another small nod, keeping to herself the rest of the way until they finally arrived at the front gates of the school. Amu tried to fall back slightly, knowing that as soon as the female students caught sight of Tadase, they all freaked out and flocked around him. He quickly greeted as many as he could, but continued forward. Amu could never understand how he could handle having so much attention on him. He was a natural.

The only person he properly greeted was a male student who seemed to be older than both of them, but greeted Tadase with a hair tousle and a headlock. The guy had messy, light brown hair and bright green eyes. He was pretty tall and had earring clad ears. Amu figured he must've been one of Tadase's friends, from the looks of his friendliness towards him.

"Yo, Hotori." the new face said in an energetic voice. "Heard you guys got a new kid."

"Good morning, Souma-kun," Tadase responded with a small laugh. "We did. She's right here."

He looked back at Amu, gesturing for her to walk with them. The Souma guy noticed her and grinned. "Yo! I'm Souma Kukai. I'm in one of the grade 11 classes. Call me Kukai. Unlike this kid who's called his friends by their surname, formally, since kindergarten."

Amu chewed her lip. She didn't know that, yet she made him call her by her first name. Tadase just laughed awkwardly. Kukai hopped around Tadase and wrapped his arm around Amu's shoulder casually. Amu wasn't sure how to react to it so she just looked up at him with what she hoped was an intimidating glare.

"Wow, what a feisty expression." Kukai joked. "You got a name or should I just call you Feisty?"

Amu made what sounded like the mixture of a huff and a scoff. "The name's Hinamori Amu. And I'd prefer it if you didn't call me Feisty, thanks."

Kukai shrugged. "Alright, Hinamori it is. I also heard you made this kid call you by your first name. How'd you do it? I've been trying to get him to call me Kukai since middle school and he still refuses."

"Souma-kun!" Tadase said, clearly embarrassed. Kukai just shrugged at him. "Fine, I'll work on it… _Kukai_ -kun."

Kukai stared at Tadase for a bit before laughing. "Alright, good enough. Hinamori must be a special kid to have the honour of being the first student besides Yamabuki that you call by her first name."

Amu winced at the name Yamabuki. Tadase seemed just as tense. He quickly fumbled to change the topic. "S-so. I invited Hin- Amu-chan to join the student council."

"Oho, really?" Kukai looked at Amu. "You don't seem like the student council type."

"That's why I rejected his offer," Amu replied nonchalantly, shrugging away from Kukai's arm after realizing finally that it made her a little uncomfortable.

"But she said she'd think about it." Tadase clarified.

"Ehh, well, I hope to see you at the meeting." Kukai grinned, winking at Amu playfully. He jumped when the first bell rang. "Oh, shit, I should get to class. See you later Tadase!"

With that, Kukai ran off so fast Amu didn't even realize he was gone until he was already inside the school. Amu and Tadase both made their way to class as well. Even after meeting one of Tadase's friends, though, the only thoughts that went through Amu's mind was the events of the previous day. There was a split second where she thought about the student council, but somehow she came back to Saaya and her attack. How had something happened so quickly? And just because of one person? Was Tadase _really_ someone to kill a girl over, even after a breakup? Well, Amu didn't know. He seemed like a good guy to her. Then again, she probably hadn't known him for as long as Saaya.

Eventually, lunch came around. Amu and Tadase ate together outside again. Kukai popped in momentarily before going back to hang with his friends from his grade. Amu figured it would just be the two of them for a while. Not that she minded. She still appreciated the fact that Tadase had been consistent in his treatment of her. People had noticed Amu and Tadase were hanging around a lot, too. Some people said some rude things, while others, much to Amu's embarrassment, started wondering if they were already dating or had known each other once before. Amu tried to ignore both sides of the whispering.

People also noticed that Amu's uniform wasn't as accessorized as it used to be. Of course, they whispered about that as well. Wondering if she got in trouble and had to take them off, or just wanted to make a statement for her first week. Amu was sick of people talking about her. Didn't they have something better to talk about? She almost snapped at several people out of annoyance on several occasions.

She did get learn a bit more about Tadase that he didn't mention before. His sick grandmother, his late dog Betty. He finally mentioned another sibling, well, step-sibling, this time a girl. Amu figured that step-sister was the owner of that clothing she wore previously. He didn't seem too pleased to be talking about her though.

"Amu-chan." Tadase said after last period, startling her slightly, as she had been minding her own business and not paying attention to her surroundings. "It's time to make your decision. I'd be really happy if you came with me to the student council meeting. Even if it's just to check it out."

Amu looked away. She actually hadn't been able to think about that much at all. She hesitated for a bit, but reluctantly sighed, making the last minute decision. "Alright. Fine. I'll check it out. But I'm not going there to make friends or anything."

Tadase grinned. "Great! But good luck not making friends."

Amu shrugged, tossing her bag over her shoulder. Her hands were covered by some cheesy looking, leather fingerless gloves she had found to hide the bandages on them. No one seemed to care though. It probably added to her intimidating outer look.

"Whatever. Let's go. We'll see whether I'll make friends or not." she said, making her way out of the classroom, turning back when Tadase wasn't following. "Knock knock, Tadase-kun. I don't know where I'm going. At least lead me or something."

Tadase blinked, but managed a laugh and jogged to catch up with her, leading her forward. Amu followed where Tadase was going. It seemed as if the student council had a building of its own, but why that was necessary, Amu didn't want to ask. She listened to Tadase's small talk and stories, piping in occasionally when necessary. It was a fairly long walk, but finally, Tadase stopped in front of an astonishing building that looked way too fancy to be used just as a place for student council meetings. Again, she stayed silent, just gazing up with her mouth hanging agape.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello~ A new chapter for you guys! I'll try to make uploads more frequent, but I'm forgetful and lazy. I have 14 chapters already pre written, probably mainly just needs editing, etc. I hope you guys are enjoying this rewrite. It's fun to rewrite! Ill see you all next update!**


	6. Chapter 6

VI

The student council's 'building' was actually a large greenhouse, about the size of a baseball diamond. Just standing outside of it made Amu feel like she was in a different realm. Through the clear glass, Amu could see a bunch of greenery, which in retrospect, seemed obvious. It _was_ a greenhouse, after all.

Tadase pulled the doors open casually like it was just any other building, which it technically was for him, and gestured for Amu to go in. The inside was even more astonishing than the outside. Various types of colourful flowers and plants lined the walkway. Following the walkway, Tadase and Amu came to a round table. All five chairs were occupied by someone except two. Only one face looked familiar. Actually... Amu's eyes met with a familiar looking pair of brown eyes, but quickly looked away, suddenly feeling...weird.

"Tadase, you're late." a calm, soft voice said. The voice belonged to a petite looking blonde with a deadpan expression, her brown eyes boring holes through both Tadase and Amu.

"Sorry, Mashiro-san," Tadase responded, bowing slightly as he made his way to one of the empty chairs. Amu followed behind awkwardly.

"I hope the person who followed you isn't some fangirl." the same girl, Mashiro, as Tadase called her, said sipping some tea. "I'd rather not get yelled at for being the only girl in this council."

Tadase laughed, shaking his head. "No, no. Everyone, this is Hinamori Amu-chan. She just transferred here a week ago."

He gestured to Amu, who, caught slightly off guard, just gave them a cold look and said, "Yo. Nice to meet you."

"Hey, it's Feisty!" the only familiar face, Kukai, exclaimed happily, almost bouncing out of his seat, ready to get friendly with Amu. "I knew you'd come!"

"I told you not to call me that!" Amu grumbled angrily, earning an amused laugh from Kukai, and a slightly less amused, but amused nevertheless, laugh from Tadase, too.

Everyone introduced themselves, upon Tadase's request. The blonde who had spoken first was Mashiro Rima. Next to her was Fujisaki Nagihiko, who Amu could not look in the eye properly because his sleek indigo hair and brown eyes looked too familiar and it was making her queasy. He claimed that Rima was hard to get along with, but would open up with time. This earned a glare from the short girl.

Then, of course, there was the energetic, sporty, Kukai, whom Amu had met this morning. He seemed friendly enough. Almost like the annoyingly endearing older brother type. He'd apparently known Tadase the longest, despite the age and grade difference.

Amu dipped her head slightly after hearing everyone's introductions. "Well, like I said. Nice to meet you."

She was _almost_ tempted to leave after hearing everyone's introductions. However, Tadase told her to sit next to Rima, and Amu knew she had no excuse out now. She sighed slightly but sat down regardless. Tadase sat in the seat adjacent to her. On the other side of Amu, she felt Rima staring intensely at her, probably judging her critically.

However, she was more focused on judging both Amu _and_ Tadase together. Amu was already trying to decide what to do with her limbs to keep them from brushing against Tadase. She felt extremely uncomfortable suddenly. As if the familiar lad wasn't troublesome enough for her, she remembered she was sitting between to a really pretty boy and now a seemingly very judgmental girl.

"Hmm…what is this I sense?" she asked, suddenly interested as she noticed Amu's face already lighting up. "Could it be…?"

Tadase jumped in before Rima could finish the sentence, clearly already understanding the situation. "Nope. Mashiro-san, there's nothing going on! We just met! We're only friends. Right, Amu-chan?"

Amu's face was burning. "R-right! No feelings what so ever. Just friends!"

Rima stared at Amu for a bit longer, but eventually shrugged and continued drinking her tea calmly. "Need I remind you that's exactly what you said when you brought Saaya in. I've got my eyes on you. Both of you."

Amu stared at her for a bit before mumbling. "I hope she isn't always this nosey when it comes to friendships between a girl and a guy..."

Tadase happened to hear and laughed quietly. "Unfortunately, she is. But, you learn to get used to it."

"Ah… I see…" Amu replied. _Note to self: don't talk to or about any guys around her._

"Anyways!" Nagihiko said, trying to change the subject. Amu wasn't sure if he knew Rima was glaring at him or not. "Hotori-kun, shouldn't we start this meeting before it gets too late?"

"Ah, right. Has everyone collected their list of complaints, requests, or ideas from the students?"

The three other members looked at some papers in front of them. Amu played with her hands, not having anything to offer. Besides maybe some remarks about Yamabuki Saaya, which would not be pleasant. Rima and Nagihiko both spoke at the same time, causing Rima to shoot another glare at Nagihiko...which somehow ended in an argument.

"Uhm…I take it they don't like each other much?" Amu questioned.

Across the table, Kukai laughed. "It's the opposite actually. They both like each other. They just refuse to accept it, or express it."

Amu's head was spinning with all this confusing information. Tadase just nodded in agreement. Is that what people called a love-hate relationship? Amu laughed nervously, watching as both Rima and Nagihiko glared at Kukai.

"I do _not_ like him/her!" they shouted at the same time.

They glared at each other again, and Amu could almost see the electric charge it caused. Then they both looked away with a loud, exaggerated huff. The tension was so thick you couldn't cut it with a butter knife. Tadase imitated Amu's nervous laugh and tried to continue the meeting.

Despite it being just a student council meeting, there were a few things that caused Amu to laugh, inadvertently showing her inner self who just wanted to have fun. Despite telling Tadase she had no plans of making friends, she quickly made friends with Nagihiko, despite the Deja Vu like feeling he gave, and Kukai seemed pretty fun too. Before she knew it, the meeting was adjourned, and everyone started to filter out of the green house, waving to each other as they went their different ways.

"See, Amu-chan!" Tadase said as they walked home. "I told you you'd make friends."

Amu pursed her lips and shrugged. "Well, whatever." She paused, slowing down slightly. Something had been bothering her all meeting. "Hey…Tadase-kun?"

Tadase looked back, noticing she'd fallen behind slightly. "What is it, Amu-chan? Is something wrong?"

"Does Naghiko-kun have any siblings…? Like…a twin sister?"

"A sibling…?" Tadase pondered the thought. "I don't think he's ever mentioned it. Why?"

Amu hesitated, digging around in her bag. "He looks a lot like my old best friend from my old school."

After a couple seconds and a small 'aha' sound, she pulled out her phone and opened it. The lock screen was already the picture she was looking for. A photo of her old friends. She handed the phone to Tadase, who examined the photo curiously.

The photo was that of Amu and three other teens and preteens. Amu was in the middle, while the others were around her, attempting various silly poses. There was a redheaded girl with her hair in pigtails was giving Amu bunny ears on the right of her. Next to the redhead was a serious looking boy with teal hair, who seemed to be trying too hard to make a silly face, as if it wasn't in his personality to do anything but look serious. Finally, on the other side of Amu, with their arms wrapped around each other, was a girl with long indigo hair pulled up in an elegant ponytail, who indeed looked very familiar to Tadase as well.

"You mean the one with the indigo hair, right?" he squinted slightly at the screen when Amu nodded. "They do look very similar."

Amu took her phone back, a sad expression on her face. "Her name is Nadeshiko. Usually, we'd call her Nade though." she sighed slightly. "I haven't talked to her in a while…"

"Well, I get where you're coming from," Tadase said as he continued walking. "She does look a lot like Fujisaki-kun."

After staring at the photo for a bit longer, Amu put her phone back in her bag. For a second, she just walked behind Tadase in silence before quickly realizing something else. "Ah! That's right! Nagihiko-kun's surname is Fujisaki!"

Tadase nodded, looking at Amu once more. "Yes, it is. Why? Was that this Nadeshiko-san's surname too?"

Amu nodded slowly, taking long strides to catch up with Tadase. "Yes,…it's weird. Do you think it's a coincidence?"

Tadase shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not the best person to ask, though. He's a very secretive person. You should talk to him about it instead."

Amu smiled slightly and bobbed her head in another nod. If she could bring up enough courage, maybe she'd try and ask him later. She looked around. "Oh. All this talking and we're already back at our meeting place. You don't have to walk me all the way. It's not too far."

Tadase gave Amu a worried look when he also realized where they were. "Are you sure you'll be okay? I don't mind walking you all the way…"

Amu shook her head, her stubborn side peeking through. "Don't worry about me, Mr Goody-Two-Shoes. It's only one more block."

Tadase looked like he wanted to complain, but didn't bother. Instead, he just nodded. "Alright. Be careful though, okay? I don't care how paranoid you act, as long as you get back safe."

Amu rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright. See you later."

With a wave of her hand, she jogged in the direction of her house. Tadase gave her fleeting body a wary look, but nevertheless, turned around to head to his house, glancing over his shoulder every so often to check on her. He secretly prayed to whichever god would listen that Amu got home okay.

Amu thankfully arrived home without incident. She wasn't in the mood to get used to random attacks on her way back from school. Not today. She entered her house, and closed the door behind her, letting out a sigh of relief. After removing her shoes and replacing them with her pink slippers (to match her pink room), she called out her return to whoever was in the house to listen.

Ami, Amu's little sister, was the first person to greet her, running down the stairs with her usual hyper active demeanour. "Onee-chan! Welcome home~ You got a letter!"

"A letter…?"

Amu furrowed her brow curiously. A letter? From whom? Could it be from an old friend? No; she had all of their phone numbers, so they could've just texted or called her if they wanted to contact her... Ami was tugging on her sleeve impatiently, dragging her from her thoughts.

"...envelope with your name on it and everything!" she was saying. "Come on!"

Reluctantly, she let Ami attempt to drag her up the stairs and into her bedroom. Indeed, there was an envelope. It was placed neatly on her pillow, though Amu had no idea if it just magically appeared, or if someone had put it there. Ami was currently pointing to the envelope.

"See, see!" she exclaimed perhaps too happily, causing Amu to roll her eyes.

Ami really had no sense of danger or worry whatsoever. Amu shook her head in dismay and reached for the envelope, unsure what to expect. Unfortunately for her, it was not from any of her old friends. Rather, she wished it was. It definitely wasn't a very pleasing letter, either. She stared at the contents of the letter in both awe and horror, completely speechless.

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 **A/N: Here's another chapter for you guys. I hope you're all enjoying this. I hope this chapter wasn't too boring. Reviews are appreciated as well as constructive criticism/ideas.**


	7. Chapter 7

**VII**

"Let me see too!" Ami insisted, reaching out for the latter with grabby hands.

Amu raised the letter over her head so Ami couldn't reach it. There was no way Ami could see this. Even if she didn't understand what it meant, she'd probably find a way to ask Amu's parents. She turned away from Ami, trying her best to keep the poor kid away as she shoved the note back into the envelope and hurriedly planting it under her pillow, throwing herself on the bed and leaning against the pillow when Ami tried to make another grab at it.

"It's nothing important, Ami," she said bleakly. "Go play on the computer or something."

Ami pouted, but it quickly faded. "Aw, that's not fair! Whatever. I was getting bored anyway."

Fortunately, Ami ran out of the bedroom, giggling for a reason Amu didn't understand. After a minute or so, Amu stood up and closed the door, locking it just to be safe. She made her way back to her bed and pulled out the letter from under the pillow. Chewing on her lip, she sat at her desk and opened the letter again.

She read it over, again and again, as if reading it repeatedly would make it less of a problem. Rather, it made it more of a problem. After reading it for the fifth time, she finally concluding several, obvious things. One, this was a threat. Two, it was definitely by Saaya. Lastly,…she was screwed. The letter read:

" _Hinamori Amu,_ _  
_ _I'm watching you._ _  
_ _If I ever catch you with Tadase again…_ _  
_ _Let's just say you'll never see the light of day again._ _  
_ _Signed, YS._ "

This was a _real_ problem. Saaya was dead serious in wanting to kill Amu. She hurriedly opened one of her drawers and threw the note, envelope and all, inside, as if to help her pretend it never happened.

It didn't help. With how many times she read it, the words were embedded into her mind. She slammed the drawer shut and fled to her bed, using her comforter to…comfort her. That wasn't helping either.

"No, this can't be happening." She curled up into a ball, hugging her knees as she lay on her side.

After lying there for a couple minutes, admittedly letting out a few tears, she poked her head from under her covers and grabbed her cell phone from her bedside table. The only thing she could do was ask for help. She took a deep breath and dialled a phone number, her hands shaking as she fumbled to hit the right numbers, praying she got it right.

She chewed on her lip as she waited for someone to pick up. She was trembling. Having given up on holding it against her ear, her hands shaking too much, she put it on speaker, prayed no one was eavesdropping outside of her room, and placed the phone in front of her on the bed.

The phone rang three times before a familiar voice answered. Amu felt like crying right there. Neither of her personalities could handle this situation well. Still, she sucked in a breath and tried to keep her voice steady.

"Tadase-kun..? It's Amu." she managed

Tadase's relieved and happy sounding voice echoed through the room. " _Ah, Amu-chan! Good evening! I assume you got home okay?_ "

Amu nodded but remembered she was on the phone and that Tadase wouldn't be able to hear a nod. "Uh...yeah." she hesitated. Despite having called to tell Tadase in the first place…she was doubting herself. "But…"

" _But…? What's wrong? Did something happen?_ "

Amu pursed her lips, gazing towards her desk. "Um, yes. C-can we meet somewhere? There's something…that I want to show you."

Tadase paused as if thinking. White noise replaced the line until he finally spoke. " _Sure. I'm free in about 20 minutes. Where did you want to meet?_ "

Amu thought for a second. "Uhm. Can it be somewhere…private? I don't want people to be around us because…um well...you'll see."

" _Ah…sure. We'll go up to the roof then. I'll meet you in front of the school then._ " Amu could hear the confusion in Tadase's voice.

Amu didn't even realize students could go on the roof without permission. Regardless, she managed to agree; Tadase was the headmaster's son, so he'd be able to get away with anything. She said her goodbyes and hung up, deciding to get changed into something more comfortable, just in time for her mother to call her for dinner.

She finished eating as fast as she could when she realized it took her 5 minutes to get dressed and therefore had to finish dinner in at least 10 minutes. Her parents watched her in awe as she shovelled down her food, announced she was done, then promptly said she was going out. And then within the blink of an eye, she threw the hood of her sweater up, jumped into some slip on shoes, and was out of the house in seconds.

The letter was already in the pocket of her magenta hoodie, albeit a little squished. Without a second thought, she sprinted towards the school, trying to push aside her paranoia by telling herself she couldn't be recognized with her hood on. She kept her head down the entire time, just to be sure. It wasn't very efficient for looking out for possible 'enemies' but at least her face was kind of hidden.

As expected from Tadase, the blond was already waiting by the gates of the school. He had what looked like a set of keys in his hand so they could get inside the school. How he got them from his father was beyond her though. Amu had never felt so relieved to see someone she knew she could trust. She almost wanted to hug him but managed to hold back, not wanting to make things awkward for him. Instead, she stopped in front of him, panting heavily.

"S-sorry." she stammered breathlessly. "It took five minutes to get dressed, and then my mom called us for dinner."

Tadase smiled. "Don't worry. You're not late. I just like to be early. By the way, your 'stealth' outfit looks very cute."

He nodded at the magenta hoodie with long bunny looking ears. Amu scratched her head, her face heating up slightly. She tried to play it off and just watched as Tadase pushed the gates open (why were they still unlocked?) and led Amu towards the school grounds, unlocking the front door so they could enter, closing it carefully and locking them again. Amu wanted to believe it was for her own safety.

She followed Tadase in silent. She'd never been in the school after everyone was gone. It was a little eerie. They passed multiple empty classrooms, some still had notes from the last class of the day. Soon, they stopped at a door labelled 'Roof', which Amu probably should have noticed before.

Tadase fiddled with the key ring he had and used a key to unlock the door. They walked up about a dozen stairs, before coming up to another door, which was obviously also locked. Tadase unlocked that as well, holding it open for Amu. Amu stepped out into the cool evening air. It somehow felt colder than it was when she had left the house.

She walked towards the edge, careful of how far she leaned and looked around. The view almost made her forget about her task at hand. "Wow, so pretty!"

Amu was referring to the view, obviously. And while Tadase agreed, he may or not have been referring to Amu instead. He was long used to the view by now. He digressed, though. He smiled softly and stood next to Amu, turning his head to look at her, quickly changing to a more serious expression upon remembering what Amu had called him for.

"So, what did you want to show me?" he asked, studying Amu's face. "You seemed a little off on the phone."

Amu sighed, leaning her arms against the railing as she looked over the edge at the ground below. Despite calling Tadase for the purpose of talking about the letter, she'd been trying to forget about it. She turned around, suddenly feeling lightheaded from the height, leaning her back against the railing instead. Tadase followed her movement with his eyes.

"When I walked into my house…Ami came down and told me there was a letter on my bed." Amu said as calmly as she could, her hand reaching into her pocket to take the letter out. "This is the letter… I don't know how it got on my bed, but I don't want to look at it anymore."

She handed Tadase the letter. He read over the letter carefully, his eyes widening with every word. "Oh my God…" His hand accidentally curled into a fist and crushed the paper in his hand. 'Accidentally.' "This is...troublesome."

Amu nodded meekly. "What should we do, Tadase-kun…? S-should we just…start avoiding each other? But she might get suspicious…" she frowned slightly.

Tadase paused to think. "Well, the obvious answer is to talk to a counsellor and get Saaya reported anonymously."

There was a long awkward silence. The only sound was the occasional whistling of the wind. Amu was back to staring at the city-line. trying her best to not cry. Or at least make sure Tadase didn't _see_ her cry. She knew was stronger than that. But for someone to go so far? Amu wasn't sure how much more she _could_ handle without breaking. Maybe it was the wind, or maybe she was actually crying, but her vision blurred with tears. A drop of water slid down her cheek.

"Amu-chan…?" Tadase placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you crying?"

Amu shook her head, hurriedly rubbing her eyes. "N-no. It's just…the wind…"

Amu realized how lame of an excuse that sounded the moment it came out of her mouth. Tadase turned Amu to face him, placing his hands on both of her shoulders, to make her look at him. Amu sniffled slightly, which made blaming the wind sound even more like an excuse. Tadase's hand moved to wipe away more tears that formed in Amu's eyes.

"Amu-chan, it's okay. Don't worry," he said quietly and calmly. "You're not going to die, and we're going to fix this. Saaya's probably just bullshitting you, trying to scare you."

Amu managed a nod, rubbing her eyes again. "But…what if you get hurt because of this? I'd feel bad if your first impression of me was 'that chick who got you hurt because of your ex'…"

Tadase shook his head. "My first impression of you has nothing to do with what might happen. I already have my first impression of you anyways. Plus, Saaya wouldn't sink as low as hurting her ex. I know she still has feelings for me. But after all this, I'm positive I don't like her at all anymore."

Amu looked at him, tilting her head. "Does that mean you like someone else then…?"

Tadase stared at Amu incredulously. He hadn't expected a question like that. He let go of her quickly and turned away, rubbing his nape. "I, uh… I don't know yet. There is someone I have my eye on…but I'm not sure if I like- _like_ them yet."

Amu blinked, confused by Tadase's reaction, but shrugged it off. "Well, it's none of my business who you like anyway. As long as we both agree Saaya's a bitch." she laughed dryly, vaguely aware of sudden vertigo she was feeling.

Tadase glanced back at Amu, glad she didn't press the issue and nodded. He slowly turned back to face her. Tadase wasn't sure if he was seeing things, but Amu looked awfully pale suddenly. He reached forward again to touch her shoulder.

"Amu-chan…?" he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are you feeling alright? You look pale…"

Right after he asked that Amu's eyes closed and she collapsed in his arms. Tadase stared down at her with wide eyes, panicking slightly. He shook her gently, hoping it would wake her up. When there was no response, he quickly picked her up and brought her down to the infirmary, not wanting to bother the nurses at the hospital so soon.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! I'm back with a new chapter~ I'm glad at least some people are reading this. To be honest, I was looking up Tadamu fanfics and they're so scarce lately, which is sad. I get the anime is like 7 or so years old at this point (holy crap), but there's gotta be some fans, new or old. I guess you could say I'm one of the OG Tadamu shippers haha- /slapped. Anyways, I digress. To those reading these stories, thank you. I'm happy you all like my writing. I'll keep writing these as long as I still have people favouriting/reviewing/etc.**


	8. Chapter 8

**VIII**

Amu had no excuse for why she fainted. It was just a spontaneous, incomprehensibly bout of vertigo. Her vision had gone blurry a couple times, but she just thought the wind was making her eyes water again. Without warning, her body had just shut down and everything went black.

It could have been because of how overwhelmed she felt, considering the situation she was currently in. It was also possible that a stitch broke loose on her arm and she was bleeding out again. Or, perhaps even worse, both. She found herself being aware that she had fainted, and semi-unconscious, but couldn't do anything else besides that. Her body hadn't fully woken up yet.

Vaguely, she could hear someone calling her name. It was tinny and warped, but she somehow managed to deduce it as Tadase's. Her eyes refused to open. Her body wouldn't move. All she could do was listen. Even then, Tadase's voice was being overwhelmed by her own heart booming in her chest and her ears.

"Amu-chan, come on!" Tadase's voice was getting louder, which Amu took as a good thing. "Wake up, please. Get it together! Please just…do something!"

So Amu tried to do something. She tried to open her eyes, that failed. Twitching her fingers also failed. She was terrified, herself. Was she dying? How was she both conscious yet unconscious at the same time?

She felt hands on her arms, holding her a little tighter than she was used to. They were shaking her roughly. It seemed she was slowly getting her senses back. But not fast enough. She prayed for the rest of them to wake up sooner.

"You can't be dead yet, Amu-chan!" Tadase's voice was both angry and concerned, mixed with a bit of sadness. "Open your eyes, please! Why wont you wake up?!"

Amu willed herself to be fully conscious. For a second, she managed to get her fingers to twitch. She prayed to whichever god would listen that she could open her eyes. Then, like some cliche anime scene, when a rogue tear fell from Tadase's tear ducts, Amu's eyes fluttered open, revealing a white room.

At first, Amu thought she was back in a hospital. She quickly decided it wasn't busy enough. It was too quiet. She looked around, squinting slightly from the brightness. It definitely wasn't a hospital.

Tadase was standing over her, but his eyes were closed. He hadn't noticed she was awake yet. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice didn't sound like her own.

"Where…?"

Tadase jumped slightly, opening his eyes at the sound of Amu's voice. He looked both relieved and annoyed. "Amu-chan! Finally! I-I thought you were dead! You weren't moving. If I didn't notice you breathing, I would've actually believed you _were_ dead!" his voice was louder and sterner than usual.

Amu stared up at Tadase, stunned that he was raising his voice at _her_. She looked away, managing to stammer out, "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what happened…"

Tadase grabbed Amu's arms, pulling her up and shaking her harshly. Her head lolled back and forth slightly, making her dizzy. "Sorry doesn't cut it, Amu-chan! You were out for _two_ hours! I was so worried! I almost called your parents!"

Amu winced. It seemed Tadase hadn't realized he was gripped right where Amu had been cut. It also didn't help that she wasn't a fan of being yelled at. She tried to hold back the pain for Tadase's sake, figuring she deserved being yelled at, but ended up yelping.

In an attempt to get Tadase to let go, she harshly pulled her arm away, which didn't help the pain At least it finally made Tadase realize what he was doing. She huffed loudly, rubbing her arm as she shot Tadase a defensive glare. Tadase blinked and pulled away as if breaking from a trance.

"I- Oh my God, Amu-chan. I'm so sorry." he averted his gaze. "I-I don't know what came over me. I was scared and let my anger over Saaya get the best of me. P-please don't be mad!"

He looked at her currently sharp, glaring honey-brown eyes with a pitiful, puppy dog eye look. Amu chewed her lip. Part of her was still a little hurt that she got yelled at for something beyond her control. The other half was trying to understand that maybe she deserved to be yelled at for worrying Tadase for so long. She sighed and sat up, resting on on her knees.

"Tadase-kun…" she said slowly, reaching for the blond's hand. "While I don't appreciate being yelled at for something beyond my control… I'll forgive you because I understand I worried you."

Tadase looked at his hand in Amu's as she squeezed it gently, looking up at him with a comforting smile. His heart did a backflip but he tried to calm it as he returned the smile with an awkward smile of his own, unable to speak properly as it felt like his heart was crawling up his throat.

Amu pulled her hand away and looked at her watch. "Oh, God, it's this late already! I need to get home. Otherwise my mom will be worried sick!"

Tadase froze and started to awkwardly laugh. "Uh, right. I don't know if you heard when I said I almost called your parents… That was a heat of the moment thing. And… I kind of actually _did_ call your parents. Or rather…they called your cell and I answered."

Amu stared at Tadase incredulously, unable to form proper words for a minute. "Y-you did _what_?"

"And…I may have said you were staying over…" he added slowly, rubbing his nape as he took a couple steps back. "F-for a sleepover."

Amu jumped up, standing on the bed, of which Amu now figured out was the school infirmary. It probably wasn't safe, but Amu was too surprised to care. She jumped off the bed carefully to stand in front of a nervous looking Tadase, trying her hardest not to shake him like he had shaken her.

"A…sleepover…" she said carefully. "How did my _mom_ agree to a sleepover with a guy? Also, what about my uniform and all that?"

"Your mom…brought them." Tadase grabbed a bag from under the bed. "I told her I was at the school for my dad and that you had run into me but were in the bathroom. She gave them to me as easily as that."

Amu stared at Tadase, her jaw dropping. Tadase hadn't needed to do that. Yet he did anyway. So no one else had to worry but him. So she could stay… _safe_. She was at a loss of words a she awkwardly took the bag of her stuff. She peeked inside just to make sure it was in fact hers.

"I-you came up with an elaborate plan just to…protect me?" she mumbled feeling her cheeks heat up slightly.

"Er…more or less…" Tadase rubbed his nape nervously. "Sorry. It was a little impulsive, wasn't it? Should I call her back and cancel…?"

Amu put her hand on Tadase's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. There's no backing out now anyway. And… I don't mind staying over."

Tadase looked at her with a meek smile. "R-really? It's okay?"

Amu nodded. "Sure. I've always wanted to try a sleepover at a friends house. Well, a guy friends house. Despite having male friends, though, my dad always thinks the guys are after his little girl."

Tadase smiled a bit wider, laughing slightly at Amu's comment about her father. "I'm glad. I thought you would get mad or something. Since I was wondering myself if it was a good idea in the first place."

Amu shook her head. "I was more mad at you for yelling at me for no reason. You're good. Just don't pull anything creepy and you're great."

Tadase laughed, shaking his head slightly. "Don't worry about that Amu-chan. I'm sure you know that I wouldn't do that."

Amu giggled, nodding in agreement. They talked for a little bit longer before Tadase gathered his stuff, and made sure Amu was one hundred percent okay. After making sure all the doors he'd gone through were locked, he and Amu left the school grounds and started towards his house.

* * *

 **A/N: Whoops I kinda died. Sorry! I have so many of these chapters finished yet I still can't even update properly. I'm a horrible person. Kidding. this is a bit shorter I think (which I was trying to avoid when rewriting this story, but I guess it cant be helped. I think I still combined a couple chapters with this though) but I hope its still enjoyable! If anyone is still reading this please feel free to give me a good schedule for posting these. I have like 10 more chapters prewritten so it's not like I have an excuse right now. Sigh. Also feel free to recommend other animes to write for!**


	9. Chapter 9

**IX**

"Welcome home, Tadase!" Tsukasa called upon hearing Tadase enter. He walked out from a room and smiled pleasantly when he spotted Amu. "Oh, and hello, Amu-chan. Nice to see you again! How are your injuries?"

Amu bowed slightly as she took off her black combat boots. "Nice to see you too, sir."

"To what honour does Amu-chan have to visit us again?" Tsukasa asked curiously. "She's not hurt again, is she?"

Tsukasa looked as dapper as he did when Amu first saw him at the hospital the previous day. Despite the simplicity of the outfit, he still managed to look chic in a pair of beige slacks and a white button-down shirt. Amu decided that Tadase got his fashion from his father.

Tadase shook his head. "No. Something…came up. So I asked if she could stay over… Can she?"

Tsukasa looked at Amu with an amused smile. "Oh, of course. Just make sure there's no _funny business_." he tossed a wink in Amu's direction, which Amu thought was both embarrassing and unnecessary.

Tadase smiled as he took off his jacket. "Thanks, _otousan_."

Amu managed a smile, stumbling slightly when she felt another wave of vertigo was over. She tried and failed to ignore it. Tadase was there before she could even nonchalantly wave it off. He held her shoulders to steady her, making sure she was okay and wouldn't collapse again.

"Amu-chan? What's wrong?" he asked, his voice rimmed with concern.

Amu nodded quickly, though realizing it wasn't a helpful answer and actually spoke. "I'm fine. Just another wave of vertigo. I think I'm just tired."

"Did you want some tea?" Tadase offered. "My dad can get you settled in a room. I'll be there in a bit."

Amu was both relieved, though perhaps, deep down, also a little disappointed, that she would be sleeping in a separate room. While it wasn't really 'sleepover protocol', Amu didn't really expect to be sharing a room with Tadase in the first place. Especially since she was a female and he was a male. She nodded again and let Tsukasa lead her down a hall.

She actually got a good look of the place this time around. It was a traditional Japanese style house with _shoji_ doors and walls, _tamati_ floors and more. It was completely different from Amu's own western inspired house. Tsukasa stopped in front of a room and gestured for Amu to go inside after opening the door for her. Amu bowed slightly and stepped inside.

"Wow, this is a nice room…" she smiled slightly, looking around.

The room was, of course, also like a traditional Japanese room. The same _tamati_ flooring and _shoji_ walls. The bed was like a regular bed, but was flush against the floor. There was a small table, perhaps a _kontatsu_ , or given the season, probably just a regular table, in the middle of the room. The only wall that was solid was one with a closet. Amu realized this was the same room as the one she had been in the other day. Her curiosity got the best of her and she turned to Tadase's father.

"Say…Hotori-kun…does Tadase-kun have any siblings?" she asked.

Tsukasa laughed quietly. "Not technically. But I probably shouldn't be the one to tell you that story. Ask Tadase about it later."

Just as Tsukasa said that, Tadase appeared beside him with a tray. Along with some tea, there were also a few snacks. Tsukasa moved out of the way to let Tadase pass. He smiled slightly.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone for now." he said quickly, a playful smile on his lips. "I hope you're comfortable here, Amu-chan."

Before Tadase could say anything, Tsukasa had disappeared, closing the door behind him. Tadase sighed, placing the tray on the table. He had no idea what was going on in his father's head. Amu knelt down in front of the table and was later joined by Tadase, who placed one of the cups in front of her.

"Thank you, Tadase-kun." Amu bowed her head with a smile, taking the cup of tea in her hands.

"What were you talking about with my dad?" Tadase asked, tilting his his head.

"Huh? Oh." Amu shrugged nonchalantly. She couldn't bring herself to ask right away. "Not much. He just told me to enjoy my stay."

Tadase nodded, eyeing Amu a little suspiciously, but eventually deciding not to question it. "I hope you don't mind this room. My room is across the hall if you need anything. Did you want to see it?"

Amu took a sip of the tea, humming to seem like she wasn't too eager, which she really wasn't. Okay maybe a bit. She took a second to respond. "Alright, sure. Not because I'm curious or anything, though."

Tadase laughed. "Of course not. It's only fair that I show you my room, even if you won't be staying there."

Tadase and Amu finished their tea. Then, Tadase lead her to a room just a kitty corner away from the room Amu was in. She looked around. It looked like any of the other rooms in the house, except his room was a bit larger and had a desk. The bed was similar to the one in the room she was just in, same with the walls and floor. There looked to be a sliding door which seemed to lead outside.

"It's nice…" Amu commented obviously, walking around. "Very spacious. And clean." She had the sudden urge to yawn at the end of that sentence and quickly covered her mouth. "Sorry."

Tadase shook his head. "You can get changed into your pajamas and sleep if you'd like. You've had quite the day."

Amu nodded slightly. "This must be the most boring sleepover you've ever had." she laughed dryly. "And if it's your first, then I apologize for ruining your sleepover experience."

Tadase laughed, shaking his head again. "It's fine. I just want to…keep an eye on you. For today. It was late anyway when you became conscious, and I had no other excuse as to why you were away for almost two hours." He turned Amu around and gently pushed her out of the room. "Now, go get changed and sleep. I don't need you fainting again. Especially not during school."

Amu rolled her eyes and marched into the room she was put in. She mumbled something that sounded like 'Alright, alright. Who are you, my mother?' before laughing shortly and closing the door. Tadase laughed softly as well and made his way back to his bedroom so Amu could change in peace. Amu snorted slightly at the days turn of events as she grabbed her pajamas from the bag her mother brought.

"Mama must seriously trust me to let me sleep over at a guys house…" she mumbled out loud, unzipping her hoodie. "As long as papa doesn't catch wind of this we're good. But…he still thinks Tadase is a girl, so that's probably what mama told him."

Amu, being lazy, hadn't put a shirt under her hoodie, so it didn't take much effort to change. In a matter of 20 seconds, she was already changed into her pajamas. Now, she poured herself another cup of tea, as it was still in the room, and sat on her bed to contemplate.

Somehow, after only a couple weeks of switching schools, Amu had both made an enemy as well as a good friend. It was a lot to take in. If not for Tadase, she probably would've asked her parents to send her back to her old school somehow. She sipped the lukewarm tea slowly, staring at the wall absentmindedly.

For now, her exhaustion was completely gone. Now she just felt bad for giving Tadase a bad sleepover experience. She finished her tea and set the cup back on the table, sighing.

"Man, I wish there was something I could do to make this a proper sleepover…" she mumbled to herself. "Maybe I should throw a pillow at his door…or prank call him."

She hummed and pulled her legs up on the bed. She wondered if they were within calling distance. Maybe that way they could still talk before sleeping. She hated being such a killjoy. A sleepover wasn't a sleepover without something fun, after all. She huffed slightly and stared at the untouched snacks. After a second, she stood back up and walked to the door, sliding the door open slightly.

"Tadase-kun…?" she called softly. His door was still open so she was sure he could hear. Soon, his head appeared in the door frame, confirming her suspicion.

She spoke again. "It's still early. Did you want to do something? If we do at least one sleepover worthy thing, I'll feel less bad about making things boring."

Tadase seemed intrigued. He stepped out of the room. "Like what?"

Amu shrugged, shuffling slightly as she thought. "There's still some snacks in the room. We can play truth or dare until we run out of food or something."

"That sounds fun." Tadase agreed, smiling softly. "As long as you don't pass out on me again."

"Funny." Amu rolled her eyes, opening the door further. "You better not give out weird dares."

Tadase shook his head. "I wont do anything Saaya would do, at least. If it makes you feel better, I can't even think of any dares right now."

He laughed lightly as he stepped into the room. Amu picked up a pillow from the bed and placed it on the ground to sit on, tossing one to Tadase too. They both sat down and Amu grabbed a cookie quickly and tossed it into her mouth. She looked at Tadase, chewing her cookie before speaking properly.

"So, who's going first?" she asked, running her tongue over her teeth behind her closed mouth. "Should we flip a coin? Or do rock, paper, scissors to figure it out?

Tadase shrugged his shoulders, reaching for a cookie. "You can ask me first. I can't think of anything to ask you right now anyway."

Amu nodded and asked Tadase the usual 'truth or dare', to which Tadase responded truth. Amu hummed as she thought of a good truth question. She could've gone for the 20-questions kind of truth by just asking what his favourite whatever was, but that seemed too boring. She chewed her lip thoughtfully, delving into her brain for a truth worthy of a truth or dare game before snapping her head up.

"Ah-ha!" she looked at Tadase, pointing her finger at him dramatically. "I know you're probably still trying to get over your break-up with Saaya, not that she's much to get over, but…do you currently like anyone?"

Tadase narrowed his eyes. "Are you asking this for yourself?"

Amu shook her head quickly, her eyes widening at Tadase's question. "What? No! Why would I care if you like anyone? But it's a good question for truth or dare." she looked away with a slight pout. "Just answer the question. Or are you gonna chicken out?" she returned her gaze to Tadase with a mischievous smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"No, no. I can answer it." Tadase responded. "I think. Just give me a minute to think about it. I haven't given it much thought yet since Saaya."

Amu kept her eyebrow raised but shrugged and grabbed another cookie, mumbling, "How can you not know if you like anyone?" under her breath.

She quietly started to count down from the sixty to try and stress Tadase out as she chewed her cookie. After the minute Tadase requested was up, she looked at him expectantly. Once again, the mischievous smirk still played on her lips. Tadase chewed his lip, still not speaking.

"Okay." he finally said after another twenty seconds. "I doubt this is the answer you want to hear but…rather than _like_ someone, I've taken interest in someone. I don't know for sure yet if I have feelings for them, though."

Amu hummed, crossing her arms. She was trying not to be curious and ask who the person was. Instead she just nodded, showing she was satisfied with the answer. They continued playing, their dares not really too extravagant, and their truths just questions to help get to know each other. Soon, the plate of cookies was empty, and it had started getting dark.

Amu stretched, a small yawn emitting from her mouth, which she quickly covered with her hand as a force of habit. She was about to say they should sleep when a pillow hit her in the face. She looked up to see Tadase, now standing up with a playful grin that oddly suited his face. The pillow he was sitting on was now in her lap.

"Oops?" Tadase said innocently, his tone of voice not matching his playful grin. "I missed the bed."

Amu glared up at Tadase playfully and threw the pillow back at him. The pillow hit his stomach and harmlessly fell to the ground. She raised to her feet grabbing the pillow she had been sitting on as well. She gave a more competitive smirk this time.

"You can't get mad at me for this." she remarked, using her pillow as a shield as Tadase threw his pillow back at her. "You started it."

While Tadase was pillow-less, Amu threw her own pillow and picked up the one he had. However, while she was reaching for the pillow, the pillow flew back at her with extreme aim. Slightly unbalanced, Amu stumbled forward and landed on her stomach. Luckily, the pillow in front of her took the brunt of the fall and she rolled over, chucking both pillows at Tadase's head.

"No fair, I wasn't looking!" she complained, sitting up.

Tadase laughed, raising his hands in surrender. "Sorry. But you didn't say there were rules. And now you're defenseless, so throwing both pillows was a bad move."

He stepped towards Amu, trying (and failing) to look intimidating as he wielded both pillows, both aimed towards Amu's head. Amu winced and closed her eyes, covering her face with her arms. She prepared for a fluffy pillow to the head.

Tadase laughed slightly at Amu's reaction, shaking his head. He casually stepped over Amu to place both pillows back on the bed, stepping back over Amu. The latter lowered her arms, noticing she wasn't being brutally attacked by the pillows. She peeped one eye open.

Tadase's hand was extended down to her. He looked down at her with an amused yet kind smile. Amu blinked, taking Tadase's hand in bewilderment. She had honestly expected him to hit her with both pillows. Instead, here he was being a gentleman by pulling her back up to her feet with a friendly, warm smile on his face.

"Alright, I think we should head to bed." he said once Amu was up from the floor.

Amu just sat on the bed in a bit of a daze. She honestly looked ready to conk out. Figuring Amu wouldn't do it herself, Tadase pushed her down to a laying position. She didn't protest. Perhaps his previous actions had confused her. He only wanted to scare her a little bit, and to see what her reaction would be. Which, admittedly, Tadase found Amu's reaction to be quite…cute.

Before Tadase could even say goodnight to Amu, she had already rolled over, seemingly fast asleep. Tadase chuckled softly. He'd never seen someone fall asleep so quickly. She wasn't even under the blankets. Gently, he moved Amu and tucked her under the blankets so she wouldn't get cold. He brushed some hair away from her face, smiling at her cute sleeping visage.

He shook his head. Suddenly, the first truth Amu asked him popped into his head. No, not yet. He sighed and looked away as to not get distracted or carried away. He wasn't going to get swayed just yet. Tadase quickly stoood back up.

"Good night, Amu-chan." he said as he walked backwards out of the room, watching Amu with a fond smile on his face. He turned off the light and added "Sleep well." as he closed the door behind him and headed over to his own room.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, aren't you guys lucky! Another update the next day. I figured since I already had edited this chapter, I'd post it. Don't expect these frequent uploads for long, though. For various reasons including laziness, the usual, but also soon (in January) I'll be starting college. So if I'm not done posting/rewriting these chapters by then (which is highly likely), they might become less frequent. Maybe I'll post a bunch this month to make up for not posting though hmm... ANyways! Enjoy this chapter.**

 **Who do you think Tadase's interested in (It's obvious but shhh)!? Why is he unsure about his own feelings!? Will Amu sleep well?! Find out next time on Jealousy Incarnate! /thatwascheesyitsfine**


	10. Chapter 10

X

Unfortunately, contrary to Tadase's kind request to sleep well, Amu did not sleep well at all. It wasn't too long after drifting to sleep when she started her REM cycle and began dreaming. It was not a pleasant dream, either. It was a horrible nightmare.

In her dream, Amu was running for dear life from…well, she didn't actually know. Her legs felt like a limp noodle, her breathing was heavy, and she was so exhausted. Despite all this, she knew that she needed to run as fast as her body could carry her. She turned her head to the side slightly in an attempt to identify whatever it was that was chasing her, but all she could see in the darkness that surrounded her was the silhouette of a person. Something glinted slightly from some unknown light source, leading Amu to believe the stranger had a weapon.

In the time that Amu had slowed down to see what exactly was chasing her, the figure had managed to catch up to her. Before they were just a barely visible shadow. Now they were still a shadow but almost right on top of Amu. At this point, Amu had frozen in spot and was now unable to move. Now, she was only able to watch in horror as the figure rapidly approached her.

"N-no!" Amu shouted, her voice sounding tinny. Her legs gave way and she crumpled to the concrete below her. By now, the stranger was right on top of her. "S-stay away from me!"

Her voice sounded different than what she was used to hearing when she talked. It was almost an eerie difference. The person loomed in front of her, the weapon—which Amu finally identified to be a knife—jutted towards Amu's head, ready to give her an unwanted forehead piercing. Or worse, an unwanted and poorly done lobotomy.

"Please…stop!" Amu tried to command as calmly as possible, though it didn't help that her voice was shaking.

Amu was suddenly back on her feet, the stranger was now behind her, holding the knife to her neck much like Saaya had done. Amu was met with the familiar sharp, coldness of metal against the smooth skin of her throat.

"Stop!" She screamed once more, yelping as she felt the knife digging into her skin slightly. It felt like blood or some other liquid was dripping down her neck. She dared not to swallow.

This was it. She was going to die. This person was going to slit her throat and she would bleed out in a sad, brutal death. She closed her eyes, waiting for the pain of the knife cutting into her skin. Everything was moving in slow motion now, so it felt like an eternity before she felt anything. Then, after a flash of white, she woke up in a cold sweat, panting.

Amu's heart was racing. She touched her neck slightly just to make sure her throat was fine. Her head felt like someone was hammering it and her vision was blurred with tears. She looked around, slowly sitting up. When she looked over, to her surprise, Tadase was there. Had she woken him up?

"Amu-chan?" he said after noticing Amu was aware of him, letting her settle down. "Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?"

Amu chewed her lip. She knew she'd woken up from a nightmare, but suddenly couldn't remember anything but the feeling of the cold, metal knife against her neck. She managed to nod. "I-I think so… D-did I wake you up?"

"You could've woken up the whole neighbourhood with your screaming." Tadase tried for a joke, but it fell flat and didn't quite match with the serious look on his face. "I heard you screaming 'stop' and stuff from my room. My father heard it too, so I told him I'd check on you. Can you remember the dream?"

Tadase squeezed Amu's hand, which she very much belatedly realized he had been holding. It took all of her willpower to not pull away forcefully. Instead, she just shook her head and looked down at her lap, trying to hide the blush creeping up to her cheeks. It also helped hide the tears which had started pooling in her tear ducts.

"That's okay," Tadase said softly. "If you can't remember it, then maybe it's for the better. But if you ever do remember, feel free to tell me about it."

Amu nodded slowly, trying for a smile but failed as the tears she'd been holding back fell. Tadase sighed and let go of Amu's hand to wipe away her tears. Amu shivered slightly when Tadase's thumb brushed across her cheek, as she wasn't used to having other people touch her face. Tadase pulled away when he saw the slightly uncomfortable expression on Amu's face. Tadase sighed again, playing with his hands.

"Say…" he paused for a long time, flexing his fingers awkwardly. "This might seem weird but…d-do you want to sleep in my bed?"

Amu stared at Tadase incredulously. "What do you mean…?" she froze in realization. "A-ah…you mean…together? I-in the same bed?"

Tadase looked away, rubbing his nape, and nodding slowly."Yeah… I-I won't do anything! I promise. I just thought…maybe you'd feel more at ease with the warmth of someone else next to you…" he made a sidelong glance at Amu. "U-unless that makes you uncomfortable. I can see if we can take you home if you want."

Amu shook her head after a moment of recovery. "I-it's fine. I don't want to worry my parents any more than I probably already have, by coming home from a sleepover this early." she blew a strand of hair away from her face in an attempt to seem cool. "If you pull anything though, you're dead."

Tadase laughed slightly, glad to see Amu was back to 'normal'. He rose to his feet, lending down a hand to help Amu up. "Don't worry, I'm not that kind of person. No funny business for me. My father would probably disown me." he let out a mixture of a snort and a chuckle.

Amu pulled the blankets off of her and took Tadase's hand, who pulled her to her feet. She sent a playful glare to Tadase that she hoped said ' _I'm watching you_ ' as she followed him into his bedroom silently. The two stepped into Tadase's bedroom, and Tadase closed the door, leaving it slightly ajar.

Amu sat down on Tadase's bed, looking up at him warily. "Are you sure I can share your bed? I don't want to be evading your personal space or anything."

Tadase smiled, sitting next to her. "It's fine, don't worry. Take up as much space as you need. I'll be fine. In fact, if you're nervous, we can put something between us or something."

Amu nodded slowly, considering the offer. "Alright…a barrier would be nice. Sorry for waking you up by the way…"

She lowered herself down to a laying position and stared up at the ceiling. She felt Tadase stand back up to rummage through a closet to grab a few extra pillows to place between them. She heard Tadase chuckle as he tossed the pillows down into the bed but kept her gaze on the ceiling. Not explaining his chuckle or speaking at all, he arranged the pillows down the middle to make a barrier.

Tadase then lay down as well, shuffling a bit to look at Amu through the pillow barrier. Amu pursed her lips, only making a sidelong glance at Tadase, who assumed that meant he could speak if he wanted to.

"It's fine," Tadase said, finally addressing Amu's apology. "I was already up at the time anyway. I just happened to hear you."

Amu risked turning her head, giving Tadase a lopsided smirk. "Bathroom?"

Tadase snorted. "Why do you always bother me about that? Everyone uses the bathroom. But yes." he rolled onto his back, partially to hide his slight embarrassment at her bringing that up again. "A-anyways. Try to sleep okay? If you need anything, I'll be right beside you."

"O-okay…" Amu stammered, somehow suddenly embarrassed by Tadase's phrasing. "G'night Tadase-kun."

With that, she rolled over, her back facing Tadase, mainly so she didn't accidentally try to cling to him or the pillow like a teddy bear. Tadase also rolled over in the opposite direction, making sure he didn't accidentally stare or subconsciously do anything weird.

Tadase fell asleep pretty easily. This time, however, it was him who had a strange dream. His, however, wasn't a nightmare. It was strange in the aspect that, despite him being in the dream, he was seeing it through a third person type view. The subject matter was also quite perplexing.

In his dream, he and Amu were sitting under a cherry blossom tree. This was odd, as it wasn't even cherry blossom season yet, meaning it was a scene not from the current times. They both had ice cream in their hands, Amu with chocolate, and Tadase with vanilla. Amu was eating her ice cream happily, while Tadase was just watching her with a small, almost longing smile.

Tadase watched himself slide closer to Amu slightly and smoothly let his hand knock into Amu's. Amu turned to him with a confused expression, moving her hand away slightly as if marking it as an accident and letting him have that hand space. Surprisingly, dream Tadase didn't make a grab for her hand like what would happen in a drama or anime. Perhaps he was too embarrassed. He did try the same action again, though, a little more awkwardly.

"Uh, Tadase…?" Amu questioned, again with that confused expression. The fact that Amu didn't use an honorific threw Tadase off slightly. "What are you doing? Do you need that much hand space?"

Tadase bit his lip and shook his head, shocked at Amu's question. "I- No. The reason I called you out here today was so that you could…hear me out. C-could you lend me your ear for a minute or so?"

Amu tilted her head, obviously still confused, but nodded. "Sure. Talk away, Tadase." she snorted, getting distracted by the fact that what she said had rhymed slightly.

Dream Tadase took a breath. "Well, …you see… When I first saw you, I knew you were…different. From the other girls, I've met. At first…I just wanted to be friends with you. I wanted to try and help you open up since you were new and probably afraid. The more I learned about you, though, the more I started feeling…different. My feelings for you grew into something more. Seeing you smile and laugh started becoming my goal."

Amu nodded slowly, seemingly trying to take in Tadase's words and make sense of them. "Okay…continue."

"Right now…as I am…" Tadase continued cautiously. "I'm not sure if you'll accept me or my feelings."

Amu blinked, now looking even more confused by Tadase's words. "I don't understand why you're telling me this. What are you saying?"

Dream Tadase looked a little hurt at the fact that Amu didn't understand what he was saying despite it being blatantly obvious to him. "Don't you get it? I'm trying to confess to you. I like you, Amu."

Again, no honorifics. Dream Amu stared at Tadase for a long time, examining his face curiously, as if trying to figure out whether he was being serious or not. Abruptly, she burst into laughter. Dream Tadase frowned slightly at these actions. Even from afar, Tadase could almost _feel_ his dream self's heart sinking.

"O-oh wow, Tadase!" she stammered between laughs. "You…you really do know me well. H-how did you know I had a small crush on you?"

Tadase stared at Amu incredulously as if this was news to him. "I-I di-"

"Seriously though, w-what would a popular preppy boy like you get out of liking an intimidating, infamously rumoured as 'violent' girl like me?" Amu laughed more, cutting Tadase off.

Tadase was caught off guard. He lowered his gaze. "I… I'm serious, Amu… And you're neither of those things, I know for a fact!"

Amu rubbed tears of laughter out of her eyes. "Oh, man, you should be an actor, Tadase. Who put you up to this? Was it Rima? I bet it was. I'm gonna have to get her for that!"

Tadase shook his head sharply, his voice and eyes pleading. "N-no, Amu…It wasn't Mashiro-san… No one put me up to this. I swear, I'm not lying!"

"You're so funny, Tadase!" Amu slapped Tadase's shoulder playfully, before looking at her watch, her grin melting into a frown. "Oh, shoot. I gotta go. I promised mama I'd do her a favour. Call me when you _actually_ want to tell me what you wanted."

Without waiting for Tadase's response, she quickly finished her now melting ice cream cone and rose to her feet. She faced Tadase and bowed to him politely, probably jokingly considering they'd lost the honorifics so were clearly close enough to not need to do that. With that, she jogged off, backwards at first so she could wave.

"See you, Tadase!" she called before turning back around and running properly.

"B-bye-bye, Amu…" Tadase mumbled to himself dejectedly.

He watched Amu disappear on the walkway of cherry blossom trees with a disheartened expression. It slowly dawned on him that he had technically been rejected, despite Amu saying she did, in fact, have a crush on him. Normally that would mean he at least had a chance. Instead, Amu just laughed in his face. The dream faded to black. By the time Tadase woke up, it was already morning, and he was thoroughly confused.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi. I'm alive! I've been very distracted lately. I still dont know why I cant just throw these out randomly when i have a lot of the chapters already written. I mean- I could put them all out at once but where's the fun in that?**

 **Is anyone even reading these? I hope so because its fun re-working stuff I wrote ages ago. I hope people still like Tadamu out there, even though the anime is like 8 years old.**


	11. Chapter 11

_**XI**_

When Tadase tried to sit up from his strange dream, he felt a slight weight on his chest. For a brief second, he panicked, thinking it was sleep paralysis. He'd only really read about it, and from that knowledge, he knew he did _not_ want to experience it. However, upon looking down, he was relieved to see it was just Amu's arm loosely draped across his chest. She had rolled into the pillows and had one wedged between her legs. It was quite the scene, honestly.

She was sleeping on her side, her left arm splayed past the pillows and onto Tadase's chest, her right arm tucked under a pillow. Her legs were curled up, with the previously mentioned pillow wedged between them. Somehow, though, she was _above_ the blankets. Tadase had no idea how she even managed to achieve that. Perhaps she kicked them off while Tadase was deep into his dream, so he didn't feel or notice anything.

He looked at her with an amused smile for a second before carefully taking her arm and moving it off of him so he could get up. Instead, he placed it around her torso gently, careful not to wake her. As he stood up to get ready for the day, he fixed the blankets so Amu was under them and warm before glancing at the clock.

It was six o'clock in the morning, which was normal for him. He had to wonder if Amu woke up this early also, but decided against waking her since she seemed more like someone who woke up later. Plus, she deserved the extra rest. This gave him some time to clean himself up and get ready for school like he usually would. He also made a mental note to make breakfast for the both of them.

His father had probably just left for school as well, and usually never ate breakfast, so it was up to Tadase to make himself breakfast and lunch. Tadase didn't usually mind; he liked cooking anyway. Sometimes he'd even make dinner for them both. That was just how the family worked since his father was always too busy.

He glanced at the time again. If he woke Amu up at seven, they would get to school right on time. Not as early as Tadase usually arrived, but it didn't matter too much, as didn't have many class president things to do that day in the first place.

Once he was in his uniform and fixed his hair, he made his way into the kitchen. He put on an apron and started cooking a small breakfast for the both of them. He briefly found himself having strange thoughts about the current situation if it were taken out of context but pushed them away. He also tried to push away remaining thoughts from the strange dream.

Unfortunately, he failed to brush away the thoughts of his dream as quickly as he brushed away the oddly romantic scenario he was in. What did that dream even mean? Tadase _did_ like Amu, but he wasn't sure if it was romantically or not yet. He wasn't sure if he was even _ready_ for a romantic relationship again. Was the dream a premonition or just something his brain came up with due to the situation he had put himself in.

As he carefully made some _omurice_ , he pondered on his own feelings. It was hard to judge a person from only knowing them for a week or two, and he wasn't too keen on the 'Love at First Sight' philosophy. Amu was indeed very cute and had an interesting personality, one which intrigued Tadase to the point of wanting to get to know more about her, but was that considered as _like-liking_ her? Or was it just curiosity? Maybe just wanting to be a friend for someone new? Tadase was confused. He knew he liked being around her but was there something more too it?

When he first saw Amu, he felt an immediate pull towards her. Maybe it was because of her lost expression, or even because of her unique look. The more obvious answer was that he could tell she was a new student and just wanted to help her, as Class President. He sighed, briefly forgetting about the cooking eggs in front of him, which came very close to becoming burnt. In the nick of time, he flipped the omelet over. Any longer and they probably would have shrivelled up and turned black. He heaved another sigh, this time of relief that he didn't mess up their breakfast.

By the time breakfast was finished, it was almost exactly seven o'clock. _Perfect timing_. After plating the food, Tadase rushed towards his room again to wake Amu up, still clad in his apron. He crouched down in front of Amu and nudged her shoulder gently, saying her name a few times. She rolled over onto her back, mumbling incoherently.

"5 more minutes mama…" were the only coherent words that formed a sentence that Tadase caught, which made him bite his lip to keep from laughing.

"I can allow 5 more minutes, dear, but I feel like in five minutes I'd come back and you'd say the same thing," he said with a quiet chuckle, trying to imitate what he heard Amu's mother talking like. He then added, in his normal voice, "Not to mention I'm not your mother and we'd be late for school, plus the food would get cold."

At the sound of Tadase's voice, Amu's eyes snapped open. She sat up quickly, looking at him with wide eyes and a flushed face. Had she accidentally called Tadase her _mother_? And he just went with it to tease her? How much more embarrassing could she get? She scratched her head slightly, looking down. Well, now she had to try and come up with an excuse.

"S-sorry…" she stammered quickly. "I-it was part of the dream I was having, I swear!"

Tadase gave a lopsided grin, nodding his head a little too exaggeratedly. "Sure, Amu-chan. Whatever you say."

Amu could hear the sarcasm but was too tired to come up with any comeback. Instead, she just snorted and got up from the bed, stretching slightly, covering a large yawn with her hand when she remembered Tadase was watching. Tadase just laughed and made his way back toward the door.

"I'll let you do your thing," he said, leaning against the door frame. "Since you probably don't know, the bathroom is just down the hall. When you're done, meet me in the dining room, okay?"

Amu nodded slowly and watched Tadase disappear from the doorframe. Still slightly embarrassed, she got up, retrieved her uniform and tried to follow Tadase's verbal instructions of where the bathroom was. Once she managed to find it, she looked in the bag with her uniform. She belatedly realized she didn't bring her accessories. Not even a necklace or hairpin. She let out a soft, slightly annoyed sigh but shrugged it off and closed the bathroom door, throwing her uniform on.

Deciding to work with what she had, she just used the ponytail holder she had been wearing the day before and the few extra bobby-pins she had in her school bag to throw her hair up in a quick, horribly messy bun. She'd much rather have her hair out of her face anyway, plus it looked cool.

She folded up her pyjamas and put them in her bag, poking at her hair still, pulling out and fixing small strands until it looked messy enough that the 'tough' personality still showed. Finally, she left the bathroom and made her way out to the dining room, where she was met with Tadase preparing tea at the table, which had a fair amount of food on it.

"Did you…make breakfast?" she asked slowly, somehow surprised at this for some reason.

Tadase glanced up at Amu from where he was upon hearing her voice, blinking at the change in hairstyle. She looked different. The good kind of different. The simple yet oddly cute hairstyle suited her. The messy hair gave her the rugged look she seemingly wished to achieve, while her lack of accessories made her look so much more approachable. He hadn't noticed that he was staring for long until he realized Amu had moved closer and was waving her hands in front of his face.

"Helloo? I asked if you made breakfast?" she said. Her hands instinctively went to cover her head as a sort of defence."Do I look that weird?"

Tadase shook his head quickly, also shaking himself from his thoughts. "No, no! You look fine. Sorry." he rubbed his nape. "Yes, I made breakfast. My father doesn't usually eat breakfast, so I make it myself. Just something small. Have a seat."

Amu gave Tadase a questioning look but sat down nevertheless. Tadase joined her after placing a teacup next to her, trying not to get distracted by Amu's new hairdo and look once again. He fidgeted slightly, watching Amu as she picked up a spoon.

"I hope you don't mind omurice," he said. "I didn't know what you liked, so I just made what I usually do."

Amu shook her head, already happily scooping into the omurice with the spoon. "I love omurice! Don't worry about it, Tadase-kun. I eat almost anything anyway."

She gave him a small smile as she took a bite of the spoonful she'd pulled. Her eyes widened in delight at the taste. She paused momentarily, humming. At first, it was still in delight at the taste, but soon it changed into something more thoughtful as she pondered something. Tadase was glad she seemed to like it, but quickly noticed she had zoned out for a reason that couldn't possibly have just been from the food. Perhaps she had thought about something, or was thinking about something. She absentmindedly scooped up another spoonful of the omurice.

"Say, Tadase-kun," she said slowly, breaking from her thoughts. "Saaya probably knows I got the letter. Right? As scared as I am… I don't want to seem cowardly, you know? Should we…wait to see what happens if I don't stop talking to you right away? We might be able to get more evidence and maybe even open a police report."

Tadase stared at Amu as if she had a third eye. "Wouldn't it be safer to listen to the letter…? Or we could just tell my dad right away and get the problem solved immediately?"

Amu shook her head. "She could find a way to call a bluff or become the victim herself. Everyone already thinks I'm a 'dangerous' person. If I give in to Saaya now, she might try and say I'm a-pardon my French-pussy."

Despite the vulgarity of her words, she elegantly picked up the teacup Tadase had placed in front of her and lifted it up to her lips, pausing to blowing on it to cool it down. The warm steam curled up against her nose but dispersed quickly as she blew. Tadase stared at her in a slight daze, both slightly mesmerized but also trying to understand her logic. He saw so many flaws in this plan, yet didn't have the heart to comment on them.

Sensing Tadase's gaze, Amu looked at him over the cup, making eye contact with him. "Alright, I know I probably sound crazy so how about this? Let's leave the house at different times to throw her off. Maybe even not talk to each other for a little bit. After that, we can just act as if the note never happened."

Tadase just hummed and nodded in understanding, his mouth full of food. Amu nodded again as she sipped the tea, which was honestly pretty well brewed. She continued eating the omurice happily. She didn't want to admit it, but Tadase's omurice was _almost_ as good as her mother's omurice. Almost.

After both of them had finished eating, Tadase had started to get up to clean up the dishes. However, just as he went to pick up Amu's plate, the pink haired teen stopped him by holding his wrist gently. She insisted that she took care of the dishes for him. Tadase opened his mouth to complain, but Amu shook her head, using her index finger to halt any complaints he had.

"You leave first." She said. "I'll take care of the dishes to kill some time and then I'll see you at school."

Tadase looked like he wanted to complain again, but nodded reluctantly and grabbed his bag. He waved to Amu before leaving the house, a little warily of Amu's safety. Though he was sure Saaya would be at school by this time, he still felt nervous letting Amu walk around alone. Call him over-protective for a friend he's only had for a little over a week or two, but Tadase just really didn't want Saaya to be hurting innocent people. Especially someone as sweet as Amu. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do, since apparently, Amu was more stubborn than he had anticipated. Maybe if he saw Saaya on the way he could distract her? He pondered these things as he continued walking, peeking behind him every so often in hopes of spotting Amu leaving.

It was close to 5 minutes after Tadase had left when Amu finished washing the dishes. She for obvious reasons, she had no idea where to put them so she just left them on the drying rack and hoped for the best. Then, once that was done, she grabbed her bag and left Tadase's house and made her way to school.

She tried to stay as vigilant as possible as she walked, looking over her shoulder and side to side every so often, unsure whether Saaya was an early bird or arrived at school late like Amu often did. Regardless, she made her way to the school like usual. She really hoped no one from school noticed her leaving Tadase's house. That would have been bad for both of them.

Meanwhile, Tadase could just see the school building coming into view ahead of him. The entire way, he had hoped Amu was safely on her way. He hadn't seen Saaya on his way, which could have been either a good or bad thing. As he approached the gate, he slowed down a bit to greet people. Amu had said to ignore each other in the morning, so when he caught sight of her unmistakable pink hair drifting through the crowd of students and eventually passing by him wordlessly, he tried his best to pretend he didn't see her, much like had she just done to him.

Instead, he tried to focus on a fan who was fawning over him but quickly looked around for an escape or a friend to call out to. Luckily for him, Kukai and Nagihiko weren't too far. They seemed to be talking about soccer just at the front steps of the school. He ducked away from his fans with a half-hearted apology and joined in their conversation until the bell rang for class.

After the bell rang, he jogged to his classroom, absentmindedly wondering how much longer he had to ignore Amu for. Her noticeable pink hair kept him somewhat distracted whenever he spotted it and on two occasions, he almost smiled and waved at her. How was it so hard to ignore her? It had barely been 15 minutes since they both arrived at school and he was already having a hard time keeping himself from talking to her.

Amu was late to come into the class, purposefully for once. As she walked in, she threw the door open a little harder than she had intended, promptly drawing everyone's attention towards her, including Tadase's. She ignored his gaze, instead, trying to own up to her previous actions by coolly walking in the room and (not as harshly) closing the door behind her. Maybe, subconsciously, she felt she had to own up to the personality she made up for herself despite the drastic changes to her uniform and overall current look.

Tadase tried not to watch as she sauntered in as if she meant to be that aggressive. Amu may not actually be very intimidating to Tadase, but boy was she good at pretending to be. Tadase almost jumped from his seat when she loudly dropped her books on her desk and sat down, spreading her legs out in front of her under the table and leaning back in her chair as if she had not a single care in the world.

Unfortunately, Amu didn't feel as aggressive and 'cool' as she looked and acted. All she could hear were mutters. She was used it by to by now. Part of her knew she drew the attention to herself on purpose. The thing that was throwing Amu off, now, though, was that…not all the murmurs were about how scary she looked nor were they rumours about who she supposedly beat up at which point or how many schools she was kicked out of. Some were talking about how she didn't even look at or greet Tadase— _Yes!_ Amu thought. _The plan is working!_ —while others were mumbling about how 'normal' she looked today. She casually rested her hand on her chin and turned her head to stare out the window, purposely looking away from Tadase. Though it may not have seemed like she was listening to the gossip about her, she was definitely hearing it all.

She had decided mentally that the best time to stop ignoring Tadase was at lunch. She thought—rather she _hoped_ —it would satisfy Saaya just enough to think she had won. Then, Amu would crush any of the triumphs she had by casually asking Tadase to eat lunch with her. It was genius. Perhaps it steeping to Saaya's level but hey, at least she Amu wasn't threatening anyone.

Was it evil? Probably. However, Amu did _not_ want to be made out as being a wuss. Especially after making herself out as a tough baddie. Still, she had to admit, she was a bit terrified about this situation. She may not be entirely how she tried to act at school, but it was still part of who she was and she really hated seeming weak. _Especially_ in front of people who were just really horrible like Saaya was.

She was going to face Saaya until she had enough evidence to go to the police. Or maybe until Saaya tried to actually kill her. Whichever came first. Though the latter seemed fairly probably at this point. Not to mention attempted murder was a much larger case than simple bullying and threats. Regardless, she was going to stick this out for as long as she could. It was obvious to Amu at this point that maybe Saaya wasn't completely in a sane mental state. It didn't hurt to match that level of craziness herself, right?

Amu tried her very best to ignore Tadase for their first two classes. It started getting a bit harder at a certain point since he _was_ her only friend, but somehow, she managed. Tadase seemed to be keeping up quite well, too. However, he did keep glancing at her with a confused and oddly longing expression that Amu managed to understand as him trying to ask how much longer he'd have to ignore her for. Amu would just shrug nonchalantly in response or pretend not to notice his looks all together.

Lunch came around while Amu was in the bathroom, a poor choice on her side, but also quite advantageous at the same time. By the time she got back to grab her lunch, Tadase was already gone from the classroom. She frowned slightly but spotted Saaya looking for Tadase as well and decided to followed her carefully. She made sure she was close enough that she could still see where Saaya was going but far enough that Saaya wouldn't be able to notice anyone following her. The best way to find Tadase was to follow someone who was also probably looking for him as well. As long as Amu didn't get caught, she'd find Tadase and then be able to crush Saaya's triumph like a bug.

* * *

 **Word Count: ~3300**

 **A/N: Hi, it's been a while. I figured in attempt to bring people to my profile , I'd upload a new chapter of this** **(because I need opinions on what type of fanfic I should post first pls check the poll on my profile since I'm 1) probably getting too old to be writing about Tadamu, and 2) I've been posting exclusively Tadamu for like more than 5 years at this point so I felt a change was necessary).** **I'll try my best to finish this 'reboot' of the series, too, don't worry I'm not abandoning this yet (and even if I planned on it, I have 17 chapters complete so I'd still have more to post until then anyways)**

 **I _am_ in school and my classes require a LOT of work outside of class, so who knows my availability. I'll probably post one more chapter after this to make my life easier. ****And if I'm up for it by the end of this story, I'll reboot/finish its sequel.**

 **Anyways, I'd appreciate your feedback on anything. If you review to this one and the next chapter, I might even respond in the next (next) chapters authors note (mainly bc I don't like how replying to a review sends you to pm)**

 **Oh, and the only Japanese word I used is _omurice_ which I'm sure most of you know is just omlette+rice. **

**(also since I already have this A/N and probably won't have anything new to say in the next chapter I'll post tonight, it probably won't have an author's note unless I used a Japanese word. It'll just be a word count bc it's become a habit of mine to write out how many words a chapter is)**


	12. Chapter 12

_**XII**_

Tadase skidded around another corner. Somehow, now that he was being 'ignored' by Amu, the _entire_ female school body wanted to know what happened and whether Tadase was looking for someone to 'replace' her. Of course, that involved chasing him, chanting and asking him to eat lunch with one of them. He spotted a set of doors ahead and ran towards them, closing them in the girls' faces and locking the door behind him, quietly apologizing to them out of sheer politeness.

He turned away from the door and sighed, figuring he was safe from the parade of girls. He briefly looked around to get his bearing before realizing where he had ended up. He was near the roof, which Tadase took as a good sign. If he just walked a bit further and turned the corner, the door to the roof would be just a few steps away. Perhaps Amu would be waiting there. Unfortunately, just as he took a step forward, Saaya abruptly appeared in front of him, almost causing him to jump and fall over.

"Hi, Tadase," she said in an innocent, 'cute' voice. "What happened to you and Hinamori-san? She's been ignoring you _all day_! How mean of her. Now you have no one to eat lunch with. I wonder…why is it you never eat lunch with your friends from the student council, though?"

Tadase tried for a smile. "They're busy people and their classes are quite far from mine, usually. I'd rather not bother them. But, ah, Saaya, w-what brings you here?"

Saaya smiled sweetly. "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to eat lunch with _me_ instead."

Tadase exhaled sharply. He had to think of an excuse to get out of this. He did _not_ want to deal with her right now. He knew that the fact that they'd already broken up didn't stop her from trying _anything_ to win him back. She'd probably say something like 'well can't we just be friends?' if he even brought up the break-up. Tadase sighed. He might as attempt to bring it up anyways.

"Sorry Saaya," he said. "We broke up not too long ago, so I still feel a bit awkward. Plus, I have some work to do, and I like to work in a quiet space."

Saaya pouted. It almost made Tadase visibly cringe. "Aw, man. How about tomorrow then?"

Tadase hesitated. "Maybe. I-if something else doesn't come up. But being class president and being head of the student council calls for a lot of paperwork. I'm not sure if we'll be able to eat together any time soon." he looked around once more for an escape.

"Actually." A familiar voice said from behind Saaya. Tadase recognized the voice immediately and the pink hair gave it away. "I was about to ask Tadase-kun to eat lunch with _me_. I had a rough morning so I didn't want to deal with anyone, and that included Tadase-kun. Now I'm feeling _much_ better, though! Isn't that great?"

Amu smirked smugly, wrapping an innocent arm around Saaya, who looked a mixture of confused and angry. Tadase looked surprised at first as well. Saaya was quick to shove Amu off of her quite forcefully, which just made Amu laugh.

"Oh, I know!" Amu said calmly. Her voice was laced with honey, but Tadase could also hear the venom seeping underneath as well. "Yamabuki-san, why don't you _join_ us?"

"You…you…!" Saaya's teeth were clenched, and her fists furled. "You'll pay for this, Hinamori Amu! You don't even deserve to _look_ at Tadase!"

With that, Saaya stomped off, grumbling to herself. Amu burst into laughter, clearly not fazed at all. Tadase, on the other hand, was a little apprehensive about Saaya's reaction. He turned to Amu, who was still doubled over laughing, walked closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Amu-chan," he said in his serious voice. Amu looked up slowly, settling down upon noticing Tadase's touch. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Amu shrugged. "I just wanted to make her think she'd won before giving her the shock of her life. Plus, what the hell was that about me not deserving to 'even look at' you? What kind of person doesn't deserve to look at someone? What kind of person doesn't deserve _friends_? Everyone deserves friends. She's just being an entitled little snob who thinks she's inferior to me."

Tadase stared at Amu for a bit, mildly concerned. After a minute, he reluctantly shrugged, figuring there was no point in arguing. Especially since Tadase agreed with Amu to an extent. Saaya _did_ act inferior to everyone quite a bit. Especially when she started dating Tadase. He shook his head and sighed.

"Alright. Well, be careful, okay?" he said finally, dropping his arm from Amu's shoulder. "Let's eat before lunch ends. The roof is the closest place so let's go up there."

Amu nodded her head and followed Tadase to the roof, where they sat down and took their lunches out, getting them ready. Neither of them spoke for several minutes, perhaps both too focused on their own food. Or perhaps they were perfectly comfortable not talking and just being in each others presence. Finally, Tadase spoke up.

"Girls really are great at ignoring people, aren't they?" he said jokingly. "I was trying so hard not to talk to you until you talked to me, but you seemed to have it down pat."

Amu laughed, picking up a rice ball. "Okay, but come on. You have to admit that me appearing out of nowhere while Saaya was speaking to you was pretty cool. Her reaction was priceless."

Tadase shook his head in amusement. "Yeah, alright. I'll give you credit. You were very assertive. It was pretty badass. And that sugar-coated voice was so reminiscent of Saaya's voice all the time when she was trying to manipulate someone, it was scary."

"Except I'm _much_ better than Saaya!" Amu added with a proud grin. "In every way!"

Tadase laughed. "Well, so far." he stole Amu's rice ball from her hands swiftly, grinning smugly. "I'm kidding. You're completely different than her. But thanks for this."

Amu whined slightly at Tadase's actions, ignoring his first comment and moving her lunch away from him so he didn't try to steal anything else. "Hey! You have your own lunch!"

She grabbed for the rice ball to get it back, but Tadase grabbed Amu's hand and shoved the whole thing in his mouth, giving a triumphant grin beforehand. Amu grumbled something along the lines of "you owe me something from _your_ lunch now," while punching Tadase in the arm playfully. Before even finishing that mumbled sentence, she snatched his lunch from his lap, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I'm not giving this back until I find something I want," she announced, moving the box when Tadase tried to grab for it again.

She hummed slightly before stealing one of the _tamagoyaki_ and taking a bite of it happily. She hummed in delight, wiggling happily. Tadase laughed, using Amu's euphoria as his chance to take his lunch back.

"You seem to like eggs," he noted once he had safely retrieved his _bento_.

Amu nodded happily, quickly finishing the tamagoyaki. Tadase shook his head at how fast Amu ate that before turning his attention back to his food. Amu was a peculiar person indeed. He picked up the other tamagoyaki inside his lunch and took a bite. He stayed silent for a second, chewing his food, before remembering something that happened the previous night.

"Ah, by the way. How is everything? I hurt your injured arm yesterday by accident didn't I?"

Amu looked over, now chewing on a venison sausage. "Hmm? My arm? Oh. It's fine. Don't worry." she rubbed her arm gently. "I checked it in the washroom when I was changing yesterday night, as well as earlier today and it looks fine."

Tadase smiled, relieved. "Good. Don't strain yourself too much, though, okay?"

Amu nodded. "I know. I got out of P.E for a month, so I should be fine."

"That's good." he paused momentarily before placing a hand on Amu's shoulder, suddenly serious. "Honestly, I kind of blame myself for your injuries. I just want to be sure you're okay."

Amu stared at Tadase incredulously, shaking her head quickly and waving her hands in front of her. "No, no, Tadase-kun! It's not your fault at all!"

Tadase sighed. "But it is my fault. She was _my_ ex-girlfriend, I didn't think she would get _that_ jealous, so I ended up leaving you thinking everything would be fine. If I hadn't have left you alone, maybe she wouldn't have had a chance to get near you. I'm sorry…"

"It's _my_ fault, Tadase-kun!" Amu insisted, setting her lunch down in protest. "I should have seen her coming. If I was paying attention, I would've seen her coming and tried to fight back better. Those rumours weren't entirely false; I will fight someone if I have to. I know how to throw a few punches."

Things had gone quite awry. Tadase was disappointed that Amu thought it was _her_ fault, and Amu was disappointed that Tadase thought it was _his_ fault. Both were convinced they were at fault and neither could agree that it was possible it was neither of their faults. Amu was definitely the more stubborn of them.

"Amu-chan, even if you _could_ fight, she had a _knife_!" Tadase's voice started to get louder as it took on a scolding tone. "You could have gotten even more hurt if you had fought back!"

Amu looked at Tadase, starting to get a little annoyed that Tadase didn't trust her fighting abilities. "Who are you to tell me I can't fight someone with a knife? A swift kick could've knocked the knife out of her hands easily. Plus I didn't even _ask_ for you to protect me. I asked for support. Not…not whatever this is!"

"I'm not trying to protect you! I just don't need innocent people getting hurt because of Saaya!" Tadase was also getting agitated now, which ended up causing him to partially lie. "And even if I _am_ protecting you, protecting _is_ a form of supporting you. Unless you don't even want my support, now, either?"

Amu bit her lip, opting to stay quiet. Technically, Tadase described exactly what it meant to protect someone. Still, Amu had no idea how to answer such a question. Of course, she wanted Tadase's support. All she wanted was for Tadase to trust her a bit more, even if they only had known each other for a short time. Or at least agree that part of it _was_ her fault.

Tadase, however, took Amu's silence as her agreeing that she no longer wanted his support and sighed. He grabbed his lunch and stood up, startling Amu, who was sulking to herself. He regretted everything he'd said, but didn't want to take it back. Especially since he _did_ think it was his fault. Amu's expression already seemed angry, so there was no backing out now. He sighed once more and stomped off, failing to notice Amu reaching forward to reach for his arm weakly before quickly retracting it and placing it back into her lap.

Amu sighed, looking at the hand she was considering stopped Tadase with. How had things turned bad so quickly? Now she had no choice but to finish her lunch alone. She regretted yelling at Tadase and regretted making him mad. At the same time, though, she didn't know how to fix it. She was positive that it was _her_ fault. At least part of it. There was no doubt that a lot of the blame went to Saaya too. This wasn't supposed to happen. The fight was supposed to be later, and it wasn't supposed to be real.

Amu packed up her lunch, but, despite knowing the bell was going to ring soon, just curled herself into a ball. She knew she couldn't cry, but she still felt bad about making Tadase mad. A little bit later, the door creaked open again and Amu almost hoped it was Tadase, coming back to apologize. She poked her head up from her knees to see, instead of the attractive blond like she was expecting, she was met with Rima and Nagihiko.

They were two people she would've never expected to come to talk to her, considering she barely even knew them. Rima looked like she had been forced to come up though. Nagihiko seemed to be arguing with Rima about something as the two walked. Rima's arms were crossed across her petite chest and there was an unpleasant frown plastered on her lips.

Amu stood up and slowly, hesitantly approached them. "Rima, Nagihiko-kun…what are you two doing up here?"

Nagihiko gave Amu a somehow comforting smile. "We ran into Hotori-kun on our way back to class. He told us what happened, he seemed really distressed. We, well _I_ , figured you were still up here and dragged Rima-chan up with me to check on you, figuring a girl's presence would make you feel at ease." he leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Also, I think she's a bit worried about you. She just doesn't want to admit it."

Amu managed to get a chuckle out of that. "Well…that's very thoughtful, thank you both."

Nagihiko messed up Amu's hair gently. "I'm here to give a pep-talk. Rima-chan's here…well, to either yell at you, or help comfort you. Depends on her mood. Am I right Rima-chan?" he turned to the much shorter blonde, but only earned a jab in the side by her elbow.

Amu laughed slightly, which seemed to be Nagihiko's intentions in the first place. Nagihiko removed his hand from Amu's head. She still couldn't help but stare because of how similar he looked to Nadeshiko. It almost made her want to just open up about all of her problems to him.

"Amu-chan, do you feel…hurt?" Nagihiko asked abruptly. "By anything, anyone has said to you?"

Amu hesitated. "Well, if you're referring to Tadase-kun, he hasn't said anything to directly hurt me... Things just…got out of control. You said Tadase-kun told you what happened, so I'm sure you already know."

"We know you got into a small argument. But that's it." Rima piped in flatly.

Amu sighed slightly. She didn't want to, but she quickly explained how the argument came about. She started from the beginning, even hesitantly talking about getting attacked by Saaya. She went as far as showing her injuries from it. She also mentioned the notes, and then eventually got to the point of the discussion that caused the argument.

Nagihiko had a pitiful, remorseful look on his face throughout the story. Rima looked slightly concerned, which was different for Amu to see since she was used to seeing a stoic expression on the small girl's face. There was a bit of a silence, as they both took the story in. Amu put on her jacket again.

"So, basically, Yamabuki Saaya, Hotori-kun's ex-girlfriend, on the _first_ day, decided she didn't want you hanging out with him?" Nagihiko summarized. "And figured _attacking you_ was the best way to deal with things? I knew that girl was obsessive, but Jesus, she's clearly not right in the head."

Amu nodded slowly, covering her face, embarrassed that she had said so much. Maybe it was because Nagihiko looked so much like Nadeshiko and she used to confide in Nadeshiko when something happened. Somehow, it made things even more embarrassing.

Nagihiko and Rima discussed something in hushed tones that Amu couldn't quite make out. Rima snickered after glancing at Amu, and Nagihiko smiled in amusement. Both turned to Amu again, clearing their throats.

"So, Tadase has been a little _too_ protective towards you?" Rima inquired, suddenly very interested. "Do you have any idea why? Besides the fact that he's nice and also the class president?"

Amu blinked, confused by the question. "Pardon? No, I don't know. That's why I'm confused."

"You mentioned he stayed over at his house yesterday?" Rima smirked coyly. "Because he didn't want to send you home and have you getting even more hurt?"

"Well, yeah, the first part…" Amu nodded slowly. "But I figured it was because I fainted and was out for a few hours…" she paused, noticing what Rima was getting at. "I don't know what you're thinking, but _nothing_ happened yesterday!"

Nagihiko chuckled softly, an amused smile once again playing on his delicate lips. Both Rima and Nagihiko were acting strange about this suddenly. Amu narrowed her eyes at the two of them. What could they possibly be snickering about?

"You guys know something I don't, don't you?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips accusingly. "What is it? Tell me!"

Nagihiko shook his head. "It's better to ask Hotori-kun. Rima-chan and I are just making baseless accusations, don't pay any attention to us."

Amu stared at Nagihiko incredulously. The more she looked at him, the more she forgot what she wanted to know. Now she was suddenly distracted by how much Nagihiko looked like Nadeshiko. She realized she never had the chance to even ask Nagihiko whether he had any siblings, especially and specifically a twin. She regained her composure quickly and looked up at Nagihiko.

"Say….Nagi-kun. If I may call you that. Y-you don't happen to have a sibling, do you…?" Amu asked slowly, figuring then was a good chance to ask.

"There's no need to add an honorific. You seem more comfortable not using honorifics." Nagihiko smiled warmly, again reminding Amu of her best friend. "A sibling? Well, sure, I do. But she doesn't live around here."

Amu pursed her lips, humming. "I-is her name…"

"Fujisaki Nadeshiko?" Nagihiko cut Amu off to finish her sentence, causing Amu to blink quickly. "Yes. She was your best friend, am I right?"

Amu took a step back in astonishment. "H-how did-?"

"I know?" Nagihiko again finished Amu's sentence. "Nadeshiko has told me a lot about you. She warned me you'd be coming and told me to take care of you."

"Why…why don't you and Nade go to the same school? Or rather, live in the same city?" Amu asked curiously, leaning back toward Nagihiko.

Amu was suddenly genuinely curious about both Rima and Nagihiko since they took the time to listen to her story. Mostly about Nagihiko at the moment, for obvious reasons. There was still a little bit before the bell rang, so some small talk couldn't hurt.

"We look a lot alike, clearly. So we'd often switch places." Nagihiko responded. "I make a believable Nade impression if I do say so myself." he cleared his throat as if about to do said impression, but seemingly suddenly decided not to. "Anyways, we got caught once so our mother separated us to keep it from happening again."

Amu nodded in understanding. "I'd be interested in hearing your Nadeshiko impression one day." she turned to Rima, thinking it was unfair that Nagihiko was getting all the attention. "What about you, Rima. Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope," Rima responded softly, her tone flat again.

"So you're an only child?"

"Yup."

"You're not much of the person to talk about yourself to a stranger, are you?"

"Not at all."

Amu sighed slightly. It bothered her that Rima wouldn't talk much about herself, but maybe she just didn't trust Amu enough yet. She shrugged slightly, trying not to get too bothered. She would've been the same way if not for Nagihiko anyways.

"Don't worry about Rima-chan," Nagihiko said. "It takes her a while to get used to people. She hated me for a solid two weeks when we first met. It's safe to say she doesn't hate you, though. Hence why she came up." Rima looked away with a slight blush on her cheeks, a pout playing on her lips. "I'm saying this knowing I'll get hurt, but she's actually quite the comic."

Amu stared at Rima for a second, trying to believe that statement. "Really? You couldn't tell."

"You just gotta find the way to get it out of her." Nagihiko winked, leaning in to talk specifically to Amu. "Watch this."

Nagihiko hopped up on one leg, curving his other leg against it like that one yoga move that was supposed to resemble a tree. His body arched slightly toward the right and his arms pointed right as well. The catchphrase for whatever this silly move was, was 'Bala-balance', though Nagihiko was far from balanced. Regardless, it still got a chuckle out of Amu. Rima, however, looked far from amused.

"Nagi! How many times have I told you that's _not how you do it_!" she exclaimed, becoming much more animated. "Keep balanced, and straighten your arms! Ugh, I'll have to show you. Watch carefully."

Naghiko grinned and subtly sent Amu another wink and a thumbs up. Rima did the exact same move as Nagihiko, but it looked a lot more balanced and straight. Amu recalled seeing it as a gag on a comedy show when she was flipping through the TV channels one night. Amu's smile grew and she giggled softly, the giggles growing slowly as Rima continued to do the 'dance.'

The lunch bell brought Rima back to reality. She realized what she was doing and blushed a bright red. She flailed slightly and turned to run away, the sounds of her feet against the metal stairs echoing behind her as she ran down the stairs. Amu managed to stop laughing, though somehow, how Rima ran off was funny to Amu as well, which made her laugh harder. She turned to Nagihiko after finally composing herself.

"T-thanks for that." she managed, still feeling a little giggly. The two started walking back into the school. "Is there a specific reason why Rima seems embarrassed about liking comedy?"

Nagihiko shrugged, opening the door for Amu. "I'm not sure if she'd appreciate me telling you. Long story short, she used to love comedy until her parents started fighting. They told her to start taking things more seriously after she got into a really dangerous situation. Now she thinks that if she can't make her parents laugh, she shouldn't be able to make anyone laugh."

Amu nodded slowly, quietly thanking Nagihiko as they entered back into the hallway. "That's sad…poor Rima. I hope she's able to go back to how she used to be… I know how hard it is to put up a front."

Nagihiko and Amu parted ways with a wave. Amu made her way back to her homeroom class to put her lunch away back and grab anything else she needed. She stopped short, though, when she spotted Tadase sitting at his desk, slowly cleaning stuff up as well.

She quietly stepped into the classroom, her body for some reason trying to send her to Tadase's desk. She slapped herself mentally and swerved back toward her locker instead. Now was not the time to be feeling bad for Tadase. She sighed and quickly made her way to her next class, chewing her lip to keep herself occupied.

* * *

 **Word Count: between 3000-4000 idk my document and the doc manager say 2 different things.**

 _ **Bento:**_ **Lunch, obviously.**

 _ **Tamagoyaki:**_ **A Japanese egg-roll (literally an omelet rolled into a tube) Can also be on top of rice wrapped with seaweed(?)**


	13. Chapter 13

**VIII**

Amu tried her best to stay focused during her next class class, which was art. Luckily, she didn't have it with Tadase, but her thoughts were still plagued with how dispirited Tadase had looked when she had spotted him in the classroom. It hurt her even more that she didn't apologize. Somehow, her thoughts ended up appearing on her page. She wasn't even thinking about what she was drawing.

When the teacher passed her, she was ecstatic about how meaningful the drawing was. She asked to show it to the class, to which Amu shrugged. The drawing was of a person crying. Above the person was another figure, looking over her with a bloody knife, who also looked to be crying. There were words above the standing person which said 'I'm sorry, I love you.'

The rest of her classmates didn't seem too impressed but a few smiled and told Amu it was a good drawing (though it really wasn't too good in Amu's perspective) The rest seemed to wonder how something like that came out of Amu's imagination. Amu was silent, considering her 'normal' self wasn't even that violent.

"Wow, Hinamori-san!" a female voice suddenly said from behind Amu, nearly causing her to jump and spin around defensively. "That's really nice. I think I kind of understand what it means!"

Amu wanted to ignore her, but she was already facing the person. She just blinked in surprise, not noticing the teacher putting her sketchbook back down in front of her. The stranger reached around her and took the sketchbook, looking at it as she continued to speak.

"For someone who seems so cold, you sure managed to put together some intense feelings." she said. Amu wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not. "How did someone like you think up something like this?"

Amu cleared her throat. "Just…something that's been on my mind. About how some people hurt those they love even when they're only trying to help them."

As Amu talked, she looked the stranger over. The girl looked posh, and her icy blue eyes gave off more of an icy vibe than any look Amu put together to achieve the same ideal. Her thick Nagoya accent gave her a more approachable sound, though. The two opposing ideas confused Amu slightly, but she was technically no different. She noticed this strange classmate was now staring at Amu instead of her drawing.

"Oh really? I think I've heard a quote similar to that." she said, seemingly distracted. "You look different than you did when you first got here. I noticed that yesterday too."

Amu stared at the other curiously. "Uh, yeah. I guess I lost my accessories. I was at a sleepover last night and forgot to pack anything for my hair, too…So I worked with what I had."

"Ah, well, if it helps, you seem a lot more approachable now." the girl offered a small smile.

Amu took her sketchbook back, using it to hide the blush that was creeping up her cheeks. "Uh…th-thanks, um, I didn't catch your name."

"Call me Lulu." the girl said. "My full name is Yamamoto Lulu de Morecerf. The last part is French, from my pop's side. But my mama's from Nagoya." Lulu lowered her voice. "Don't tell anyone, but you might know her. She does actin' in variety shows and stuff."

Amu nodded. She did look foreign, with her curly blonde hair and the aforementioned icy blue eyes. Amu wasn't much of a television watcher though, so she couldn't vouch that Lulu's mother was a celebrity.

"Ah, well…thanks…Lulu." Amu said slowly.

"No problem." Lulu turned to her table and scribbled something on a piece of paper. "You're not as bad as e'eryone makes it sound like. If ya ever need someone to talk to, here's my number. Do ya mind if I just call you Amu?"

Lulu handed Amu the slip of paper. Amu stared at Lulu incredulously, managing a nod. "U-um, sure?"

"Neat!" Lulu grinned. "Well, Amu, I'd better get back to work. Don't forget to call me." She looked like she was about to turn back to her table, but quickly looked back. "Ah, wait, if ya do call, I'll have to know who you are so I don't just block it."

Amu softened up a bit, offering a small smile. "I-I'll write it down and give it to you at the end of class."

"A'ight. Don't forget, m'kay?" Lulu's accent was coming out even more, if possible.

When Lulu turned away, Amu smiled a little wider to herself, adding a few finishing touches to her drawing, writing the quote it had derived from in her best English printing in the top corner. At some point, even she started liking the piece. It was calming having her thoughts placed on paper so everyone could understand and interpret them.

Once class was over, she cleaned up her area slowly, contemplating whether or not to give the drawing to someone after the teacher marked it. As she was cleaning up, she picked up the piece of scrap paper she had left aside, looking at it with a slight smile. It was just a phone number, but Amu felt like it was something even more.

Somehow, she had managed to make a new friend. Someone who might be able to listen to her problems. Of course, her old friends would have sufficed if she was unable to make any new ones. However, they were busy with their own stuff, so she didn't want to bother them too much.

After handing in her drawing to be marked, she quickly remembered to write down her own number for Lulu. She tore a piece of paper from her sketchbook and quickly wrote down her cellphone number, finishing just as Lulu rose to meet her. She handed Lulu the piece of paper and grabbed her bag. She chewed her lip slightly.

"H-hey…Lulu?" she said hesitantly, turning to the blonde before she could leave. "Do you have English next?"

"Ah, English. I wish we had a French class… I suck at English" Lulu mumbled distractedly, not answering Amu's question at first. "But yes. I do. Why?"

"I haven't really gotten to know anyone in that class…would you sit next to me?" Amu asked, momentarily forgetting Tadase was in that class.

Lulu looked like she was going to say something but just smiled and nodded. "Sure thing. Just don't get me in trouble, will ya?"

Amu _actually_ laughed. "I won't don't worry."

It was at that moment when it occurred to her that she Tadase was also in their English class. Was Lulu aware of that as well? Amu chose not to say anything and just walked out of the class, wondering if she would be able to apologize to Tadase or not. Lulu chattered next to Amu, which gave her something to focus on besides Tadase. It was hard to get much through Lulu's accent, but she seemed to be talking about how her father was a famous French chef or something.

The two walked into the class and Amu followed Lulu to where she was assigned to sit, since for some reason, Amu was always put close to Tadase in every seating arrangement. This probably had to do with the both of them having surnames starting with the letter H.

Rather than forcing the boy sitting where she wanted to sit to move, she tried to ask nicely instead. This surprised the guy so much that he seemed even more scared than she would have made him if she had been aggressive. She knew making people change seats would probably make the teachers mad but she had asked Lulu if she could sit with her, and she _really_ didn't want to sit too close to Tadase for the meantime.

"So, why did you want to sit away from Hotori-kun?" Lulu asked, sitting down. "You two seemed pretty close to me."

Amu paused. "Ah, well, I'm sure you know…about our fight. I'm sure the whole school does."

Amu stared at Tadase's currently empty desk. Lulu nodded slightly, deciding to change the topic slightly, sensing the change in Amu's mood. The door slid open and Tadase had stepped in, which made Amu tense up even more.

"S-so…I'm also fairly new, too, and don't know much about Hotori-kun." Lulu said as if talking about the person Amu was already tense about would help. "Care to tell me about him, since you've seemingly gotten close enough to him to know?"

Amu pursed her lips, turning her attention away from Tadase, instead looking at Lulu. "Well…he's my homeroom classes' president. He's really nice… and yeah… I-I think…"

Amu's eyes flicked in Tadase's direction. He was staring at both of them. Was that a longing look? She shut up quickly, not wanting to be overheard. Lulu looked at her confusedly.

"Whattya think about him, Amu? Tell me! You can't start a sentence and not finish it! Lemme help you out!"

Amu shook her head quickly, urgently making any possible subtle gesture to tell Lulu that they were being watched. Lulu finally looked over and understood, nodding her head slowly with an agape mouth.

"A-ah…ya don't want him t'hear?" she whispered. "I gotcha, girl. Tell me when you're more comfortable, though." Lulu looked at Tadase, who was still giving Amu some interesting glances. They looked like a mixture of longing and annoyance. "Are ya sure he's okay with you switchin' spots? Dealin' with the teach' is one thing, but the looks he's givin' you are certainly somethin'."

Amu tried to shrug nonchalantly, her cold side coming out. "It's not like I chose to sit next to him. After the fight, I just don't want to be sitting so close to him. I wonder if I should change my surname…"

Lulu looked at Amu questioningly. "If ya say so. Whatever happened must've really made ya hate him."

 _Not exactly…_ Amu wanted to say but instead chose to stay quiet.

She sighed in relief when Lulu didn't push the matter. The teacher came in and Amu faced the front. He looked at the seat where Amu was supposed to be, and the seat where Amu was now and just shook his head. Amu wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean but maybe even the teachers were too afraid to face her. Good for her for now, but she'd probably get in trouble later.

"Now's your last chance to move back, y'know." Lulu whispered, leaning close to Amu's ear. "Or at least explain to him why you're sitting here."

"No!" Amu shouted loudly, causing everyone to stare at her even more than they probably were. She bowed her head slightly, lowering her voice again. "I mean…it's fine. Everyone knows I've been ignoring him by now. He probably doesn't even want to talk to me."

"Should I talk to him? For getting mad at you?" Lulu asked. "Or was it you who started it? Never mind, then. Something seems up, though…" the last part was mumbled mainly to herself, but Amu still heard it.

"Hinamori-san, I was going to just leave it for now, but could you please sit back in your spot?" the teacher asked calmly. "Today's assignment is a group project and I've already paired you with Hotori-kun."

Amu sighed, glancing between Lulu and the teacher, then looking at Tadase. "Looks like I have no choice now."

"Good luck." Lulu offered a smile as Amu stood up.

She made her way back to her desk, bowing her head to the student whose desk she had stolen. At first, she tried to avoid Tadase's gaze, not wanting to talk to him, but eventually, she broke down. If they were partners, they had to communicate anyway. She sat down and the teacher started handing out the assignment sheets.

"H-hey, Tadase-kun…" she stammered softly.

Tadase smiled. "Good afternoon, Amu-chan."

Amu could tell it was a genuine smile, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was just a cover-up. Tadase _had_ to hate Amu. He was just being nice. Having no choice, she pushed her desk closer to his so they could easily work together. She chewed the inside of her cheek, glancing back at Lulu.

"Made a new friend?" Tadase asked, placing the assignment sheet between the two of them. Without waiting for an answer, he said, "Good for you, Amu-chan."

Amu nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah. Her name is Lulu… Hey, um…"

Tadase looked at Amu expectantly, but Amu could feel the teacher's gaze on her. Without even looking at the teacher, she knew the look was something along the lines of 'less talk-y, more work-y.'

"N-never mind…" she said. "Let's just get this over with."

Of course, the assignment had to do with how to apologize in English. Amu couldn't tell if this was punishment for even getting into an argument, or fate telling her she should apologize. Just…not in English, obviously; she sucked at English. She chewed her lip, looking over the assignment, making occasional glances at Tadase throughout the rest of class. Her attempts at properly apologizing in English failed and she knew she was getting a bad mark for this assignment.

Even after school, the thought of apologies still on her mind, she was trying to think of various ways to apologize to him. There was the casual and simple but cool 'Sorry', but that didn't sound very sincere, even if it _did_ match her whole 'cool' attitude. There was the 'formal apology', which was along the lines of, 'My apologies for angering you, Tadase-kun, that was not my intentions', which could work, but it sounded like she was talking to a stranger rather than a friend and just sounded really weird thinking about her saying it.

She sighed, quickly giving up thinking of a good way to apologize and eventually made her way to Tadase's place to grab her stuff, hoping no one was following her. Trying to think optimistically, she figured maybe she would get the chance to apologize if she ran into him on the way or at the house.

* * *

 **A/N: ok this fic doesnt seem to get many reviews so screw the whole 'post when I get a review' thing I was gonna do. I'll just post whenever I feel like it and if you wanna comment/review, you're welcome to.**

 **Oh yea, word count was around 2600-2700.**

 **Anyways, Amu made a friend, yay! (Im pretty sure in the original it was probably my self-inserted OC but we aren't doin that anymore OCs are lame. Jk I have lots of OCs) I'm sure it doesn't make sense for Lulu to be friends with Amu but I figured she needed another person on her side, beside the normal gang. And honestly, Lulu probably _wanted_ to be Amu's friend in the anime, she was just a major Tsundere (ish). Sorry if in any of the next chapters with Lulu in it if she gets a lil OOC, the main 'character' points Im pulling from the anime for Lulu is her accent obviously (which is kinda hard to express in written English, but I'm assuming an Osaka accent is kinda like a redneck/country/texan accent), and her bragging/over-confidence(?) **

**Maybe I'll get the courage to post my Stranger Things oneshot, since I kinda like it. Or one of my many other fanfics lying around.**


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